Part C of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 requires early intervention teams craft individualized and effective plans to meet the needs of young children with special needs and their families (Küpper, 2012). Many early intervention teams, however, may struggle to follow a process that results in…

This article suggests that many of the 16-year-olds who don't achieve a C or better in GCSE English may have had parents who didn't recognise the value of talking to them from the moment they were born. It argues that a bringing together of health visitors, Sure Start centres and primary schools could help lift many children out of the cultural…

Education reform advocates who base policy decisions on empirical research often face the argument that because background variables explain so much of student outcomes, it follows that policy interventions cannot be effective. This policy brief explains the logical fallacy in the argument, illustrating with two examples, one taken from the…

"Research Connections" conducted a comprehensive search of its collection for resources focused on early mathematics. This Key Topic Resource List includes an overview of the early mathematics literature, as well as a listing of selected resources on the topic. Search results are grouped into five broad areas: (1) Programs and…

One successful approach to monitoring group homes for people with developmental disabilities features a parent monitoring committee with specific administrative and observational duties. Members evaluate homes on the basis of residents' rights, general environment, and staff performance. (CL)

The document presents the final report of a national study to evaluate the process by which handicapped children were mainstreamed in Head Start programs. Findings related to the following areas of investigation are presented: placement of handicapped children after leaving Head Start, Head Start's role in establishing the new placement, Head…

The Home Instruction Program for Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) is evaluated in this research report with respect to the effects of home environment. The main data of an original HIPPY study consisted of the children's performance in various tests of mental ability. In the present study, the same sample is used, but the focus of research is on the…

The report describes the model and evaluation results of a project serving birth to 3-year-old developmentally delayed/handicapped children through a parent training approach. The transdisciplinary program featured center and home visits to train parents in all activities of assessment, planning, and intervention activities. Parents were to become…

The trend in public child welfare toward increased purchase of services from local agencies is presented in this report as a rationale for developing monitoring systems which link service to client outcomes and to agency mandates. The monitoring system designed for the Parent Training Initiative, a parent education program, is described as one…

Parent participation as a requirement of Title I programs is examined in this report. The extent and degree to which this participation is effectively implemented in 116 schools in eight states is described. Data from Federal, State and local officials and from Title I parents were used to determine what problems mandated parent involvement might…

The concept of public relations and its importance in a vocational education program are described in this article. Such program elements as research, planning, finance, administration, and evaluation are discussed. Public relations efforts concerning staff members, administration, students and alumni, parents, organizations and agencies,…

The Early Intervention Research Institute (EIRI) reviewed extensive data reported by early intervention projects. Among surprising findings were that half-day programs produced as many gains as full-day programs, and programs which expected parent involvement were not more effective than those which did not. Current EIRI research efforts are…

This report details the development and evaluation of a model program for inservice training of full-time child day care personnel. Based on a survey of licensed day care centers in Virginia, the program involved 100 participants, ranging from day care aides through center directors. The 10-week training element was presented three successive…

The final report describes "Project Partners in Education", a Montgomery County (Pennsylvania) project, designed to create a corps of resource persons composed of parents and teachers who would be knowledgeable about the entire IEP (individualized educational plan) process; and to obtain data on the extent of actual IEP implementation on…

The guide describes the development and first year implementation of a program for talented and gifted secondary students. Addressed are the following topics (sample subtopics in parentheses): project history (objectives, initial workshops); teacher selection; teacher role and function (self evaluation); principal's role; the counselor's role;…