In an effort to more effectively and efficiently administer Title III funds received for faculty, staff, and administrator development activities, the Northern Maine Technical College (NMTC) created a professional activities handbook for distribution to all college employees. This practicum report details the procedures undertaken in developing…

This practicum addressed the problem of families having insufficient skills and resources necessary for locating information about the physical, socioemotional, and academic development of their young children in an early intervention program. The practicum's goal was to help parents acquire these necessary skills and resources. A family resource…

This practicum report describes the development of an instructional unit for educating faculty and clinical instructors in the role of tutor in problem-based learning, as applied to two courses in occupational therapy. Emphasis is on the specific content of the unit and appropriate instructional strategies and delivery methods. A search of the…

Concerns about the quality of a before- and after-school program on an overseas military installation arose due to low staff morale, caregivers' lack of training and experience, and child behavior problems. This practicum project devised and implemented a 10-week training program to increase staff knowledge of developmentally appropriate practices…

The goals of this practicum were to: (1) create more suitable and stimulating structured environments that would engage severely/profoundly handicapped children in positive play situations in the classroom and in the home, and (2) teach parents and caregivers how to identify age appropriate and developmentally appropriate playthings. Inservice…

Maine's York County Technical College (YCTC) developed a College Success Management course to help students learn and adopt strategies that promote their college success. In designing the course, a review of related literature was completed to determine the background and purposes of student success courses, data on student attrition, expected…

This practicum project used organized professional development to increase involvement of teachers at a preK-8 school in the school's reform process. All members of the school community actively participated in planning, data collecting, and sharing of pertinent reform information. The 3-month staff development intervention consisted of three…

This practicum developed a program to enhance the job performance of support personnel (behavior modification technicians) who work with students having conduct disorders. The behavior modification technicians provided building-level support for principals and teachers working with black adolescents from socially deprived backgrounds. Inservice…

A description is provided of the development of a course in business communication for office administration majors at Evergreen Valley College (EVC) in California. The steps involved in the development of the course are explained, including: (1) a review of the educational and business literature on business communication; (2) a review of current…

The formation of a consortium of three elementary schools was proposed and initiated to offer inservice teacher education experiences to 45 staff members. The consortium schools shared resources to increase the scope and quality of staff development activities. A staff development program was designed to meet both group (institutional) and…

Maine's York County Technical College (YCTC) undertook a project to develop a handbook for adjunct faculty that provided information on campus procedures, available resources, and general teaching techniques. The discussion began with a review of related literature to determine the value of adjunct faculty to two-year colleges, the value of…

This practicum addressed the need to provide training in basic early childhood education subject areas to Head Start teachers and teacher assistants. A trainer of trainers approach was implemented because of the large number of teachers involved (approximately 1,300 in the Los Angeles County Schools Head Start grantee programs). Goals for…

This practicum addressed the problem of inadequate teacher preparation in the area of learning theory, content, and methodology related to mathematical instruction of children attending a private child care center in Oakland, California. The general goal of the study was to plan, implement, and evaluate a staff development program to increase…

The document describes a practicum which developed a unit on critical thinking that applied Jerome Bruner's discovery-learning method and also incorporated the unit within the curricular requirements of elementary education majors at Castleton State College in Vermont. It is presented in five sections and an appendix. Section I provides…

An adaptive physical education program was implemented for two special classes of educable mentally retarded children, grades K-3 in California. Children from a regular kindergarten class also participated in the program. The program operated for 5 months, with children receiving motor skills training 40 minutes per day, 4 days per week. Analysis…