Person-centered positive supports are about empowering people with disabilities to live lives that fully reflect their individuality and their humanity. They're about using evidence-based positive practices in the service of the needs, values, and goals of the person receiving the support. And they're about promoting quality of life for people in…

Every child is unique and learns in different ways. Some children are identified as needing special education services to support his or her learning at school. Parents can play a major role in shaping the services a child receives. This guidebook has been written for parents, guardians, and surrogate parents of a child (ages 3 to 21 or…

Parents of children with disabilities (n=80) or giftedness (n=19) commented on their children's participation in an open enrollment program. Twelve broad topics were identified by the Minnesota parents, including teacher/administration attitude, transportation/location, programs for special needs students, student's attitude and behavior change,…

This brief describes two exceptional model programs for adjudicated youth with disabilities: Woodland Hills Residential Facility in Duluth, Minnesota and the Minnesota Correctional Facility-Walter McGinnis High School in Red Wing, Minnesota. The brief shares best practices from research about these programs as well as insight, commentary, and…

This manual presents an instrument (the Dakota Parent Satisfaction Survey) and procedures for evaluating parent satisfaction with early intervention programs. The survey procedures have been used to evaluate seven early intervention programs each year since 1985. Development of the Survey is discussed, including the identification of program…

The Minnesota Research and Development Center for Vocational Education (MRDC) has a major program of research focused on the education of special needs learners. The research study described in this report was a response to the lack of understanding and knowledge about special needs programs and evaluation activities related to these programs. The…

This policy research summary outlines the paradigms and processes used in recent research and evaluation studies conducted on supported employment and rehabilitation programs in Minnesota. First, the paper reviews evaluation strategies and models for assessing the individual and societal efficacy of supported employment. It identifies key…

The report describes evaluation activities of Minnesota's PACER (Parent Advocacy Coalition for Education Rights) Center's "Parents Helping Parents" Program and the "COUNT ME IN" Project. Section 1 focuses on "Parents Helping Parents," a program to make parents more effective advocates for their children and to…

The Pine County (Minnesota) Special Education System has adapted a database for use in decision making regarding programs for learning disabled and behavior problem students. The system is used for decisions in seven areas: identification, initial assessment, eligibility determination, individualized education program (IEP) selection, IEP…

The Great Lakes Resource Access Project (Region V RAP) serves Head Start programs in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The Region V RAP conducts an annual needs assessment to determine the training and technical assistance needs of the Head Start Disability Services Coordinators. A survey for assessing needs for the…

The manual presents guidelines for developing a special education service delivery system that are flexible enough to accommodate individual needs of local education agencies (LEAs) in Minnesota. Following a general introduction, the manual is organized in three sections: (1) description of essential components in the special education system; (2)…

This final report describes Project Dakota, an early intervention demonstration project serving newborns to preschoolers with developmental delay or disability in Dakota County, Minnesota, from 1983 to 1986. The first chapter describes the project model (which focuses on increasing the effectiveness of parents in fostering the child's development)…

This year the Center on Education Policy analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps between…

This monograph reports on a qualitative evaluation of the Together We're Better (TWB) program, an effort in Minnesota to develop an inclusive, positive, supportive educational system. The TWB project focused on: (1) general education/special education collaboration within the state department of education; (2) district partnerships; (3) personnel…

This report presents findings of a state-wide evaluation of special education in Minnesota with emphasis on costs and the impact of state and federal regulations. Major findings indicated that the percentage of students receiving special education services has risen from 7.4 percent to 10.9 percent over the last two decades; special education…