The Multicultural Reading and Thinking (McRAT) Program of the Arkansas public schools is described, and results of a study of its effectiveness are reported. The McRAT Program is a process that empowers teachers to refocus instruction and restructure standard curricula for higher order thinking. The multicultural emphasis provides a meaningful…

The Experience Corps Program, which was initiated in 1996 in New York's South Bronx, connects retirees with children in elementary schools. The Experience Corps' volunteers, who are mostly lifelong residents of the South Bronx, work a minimum of 15 hours each week throughout the school year as mentors, tutors, and special assistants. Since 1997,…

The inservice education learning module described here focuses on developing effective communication between parents and teachers with the intent of imparting knowledge and skills to teachers which help them to involve parents in the education of their children. The kit speaks to the problems of the special needs child but is designed to be useful…

This newsletter presents a list of 248 special education curriculum guides, identified as exemplary through the National Special Education Curricula Survey, a national service project of the Indiana Department of Education. The survey was sent to personnel at state departments of education, universities, schools, community agencies, and special…

Issues pertaining to thinking skills are discussed in an attempt to clarify what thinking skills are and their components, how they function and how they can be developed in the teaching-learning environment. Chapter 1 reviews the definitions of thinking skills. These definitions are selected from the current literature on education and…

This issue focuses on assisting adolescents with serious emotional handicaps to make transitions from youth serving systems into society. A framework for developing transition-oriented programs is prevented that incorporates into the specific service goals of the current environment the skills required to function in the projected environment.…

Although tech prep is still in its infancy in Georgia, increasing numbers of students are entering technical institutes after having completed the secondary-level component of tech prep programs. Georgia's technical institutes must begin the process of developing bridge programs to help adult students with no tech prep experience develop academic…

In higher education, there is an increasing emphasis on development of discipline-specific pedagogical knowledge among faculty, whose central precept is the interconnectedness of content and teaching method. Some college and university faculty development centers have begun providing services in this area. The University of Washington's Center for…

"Work Keys" is a comprehensive program for assessing and teaching workplace skills. This serial "special issue" features 18 first-hand reports on Work Keys projects in action in states across North America. They show how the Work Keys is helping businesses and educators solve the challenge of building a world-class work force.…

Improvement of the lower division undergraduate program of the General College of the University of Minnesota is addressed. Attention is directed to the history of the program, the status of the project when the General College Assembly adopted its 1981 statement, and the nature of the work to be completed during the 1981-82 year. Reference is…

This report presents the design, procedures, and findings of the advanced testing of 100 modules in a set of performance-based vocational teacher education curricular materials. (The modules are based on 384 secondary/postsecondary level performance elements, including program, instructional, and other elements.) In the first of five sections the…

This issue of "Linkages" addresses the need for adult literacy programs to go beyond teaching basic academic skills to adults with learning disabilities to teaching skills in goal setting, problem solving, and self-advocacy that will assist adult learners in their transition into the workforce. Articles include: "Transition: Adult Literacy and…

This report contains a list of 24 contacts and 15 references concerned with workplace literacy programs in small businesses. Each listing includes addresses and telephone numbers, prices if applicable, and a brief description of the resource or materials. The materials listed are mostly reports of workplace literacy projects in small businesses…

This newsletter issue provides stories of leaders who have developmental disabilities, descriptions of program initiatives and models promoting leadership opportunities for individuals who are disabled, and an historical overview of leadership issues. Major articles include: "Leadership: Where We've Been, Where We Are, Where We're Going" (Hank…

This issue consists of a collection of articles that focus on the types of skills and programs that youth with disabilities need to travel independently. Articles include: (1) "An Introduction to Travel Training" (Margaret M. Groce) discusses the support for travel training provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act and the…