Purpose/Objectives: School Food Focus (Focus) developed the Focus Midwest project on the premise that school food professionals (SFPs) could work together to minimize effort and maximize potential to find new or improved products to serve. Focus designed this project as an experiment to explore how and to what extent this collaborative approach…

Educational institutions are placing students with disabilities in inclusive programming to meet legislative requirements. School districts have been mandated to develop rigorous programs that can increase the academic achievement of students with disabilities, as well as their participation in general education classrooms. Many school districts,…

Background: The purpose of this study was to detect and document common themes among success stories, along with challenges, as related by participants in the Michiana Coordinated School Health Leadership Institute. Four-member teams from 18 Michigan and Indiana school districts participated in semiannual Institute workshops over a 3-year period…

The needs assessment model developed in the Lansing School District has the advantages of encouraging decentralized educational decision-making at the building level including program budgeting and personnel assignments, of providing a system for community input, and of providing a commonality of student goals and objectives between all buildings.…

The Macomb Intermediate Career Education (MICE) regional project was designed to provide a network of coordination, technical assistance, and leadership to assist local education agencies in developing career education programs. Twenty school districts participated in the project which utilized inservice training, task forces, and local work…

A study of Michigan's Copper Country Intermediate School District was undertaken to identify ways nine small secondary schools with declining enrollments could increase educational opportunities for students by cooperative sharing. The 6-month study included analyzing data on each school, identifying factors which might constrain cooperative…

The testing program of the Royal Oak (Michigan) School District was examined and evaluated under agreement of the Royal Oak Teachers Association and the Administration of the Royal Oak School District. A committee was formed of people knowledgeable of the program and/or specialists in evaluation and testing. This study represents two days of…

The Pontiac Adult-Student Learning (PALS) Program's three years of operation are described in this report. (The primary goal of the project was to broaden the career horizons and aspirations of students in Pontiac's (Michigan) two high schools through an instructional program which would include student work experience through cooperative efforts…

This color-coded manual is a guide for local Michigan school districts and schools to meet the needs of children at risk, listing programs from across the state and designated information contact persons within each district. A foreword notes that the manual was developed from a statewide survey of all school districts designed to identify…

A comprehensive assessment of the career education programs offered in the school districts in Michigan was conducted, based on the assumption that the lack of systematically organized needs data for appropriate decisionmaking groups may be an obstruction to the statewide implementation of career education. A questionnaire instrument was…

THIS REPORT FOLLOWS THE OFFICE OF EDUCATION SUGGESTED FORMAT FOR EVALUATION REPORTS OF TITLE I PROJECTS. THE FIRST PART DESCRIBES THE PROJECTS' OPERATION AND SERVICES, METHODS OF DISSEMINATION OF DATA AND INFORMATION, EVALUATION TECHNIQUES, AND MAJOR PROBLEM AREAS. IT ALSO PRESENTS INFORMATION ABOUT (1) THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE REQUIREMENTS IN…

The bilingual education policies established by the Michigan State Board of Education as a result of four state and federal policy actions are summarized, and seven guidelines for action are presented. The seven guidelines for action include the following: (1) students receiving bilingual instruction should be encouraged and given assistance to…

It is time for reform advocates to expand their emphasis on improving instruction and school management to include a comprehensive component for addressing barriers to learning. In doing so, they must pursue this third component with the same level of priority they devote to the other two. That is, such an enabling (or learner support) component…

National concern about the growing number of identified children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased efforts in the research field (National Research Council, 2001; Odom et al. 2003; Simpson, 2005) and the U.S. federal government (U.S. House of Representatives, 2005) to provide specific recommendations regarding appropriate…

Four case studies presented in this handbook demonstrate specific techniques which can be used to build citizen participation in a community education program. Based on criteria of adaptability, evidence of effectiveness, and significance, one project for each of the following four classifications of ninety-two relevant projects was selected for…