This paper describes the Self-Based Competency-Based introductory program in learning disabilities at Arizona State University that is designed to help students develop the basic competencies needed to know and understand why learning disabled children fail to learn. The 391 objectives included in this program were selected to provide students…

This report contains a description and evaluation of the City College School of Education Advisory Service Workshop Center for Open Education, a program funded under Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. The program is a free resource facility for all participants in the school process; teachers, administrators,…

In light of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 94-142), the article explores some training alternatives for both parents and professionals who are involved in the process of developing individualized education programs for handicapped children. (DLS)

Describes the individualized instructional approach of the Imperial Tutoring and Educational Services school in Chicago (Illinois), which offers tutoring by certified personnel for remedial and enrichment purposes. The program recently became the first tutorial school fully accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. (PGD)

This model: (1) involves senior adults as resource people and permits them to plan their own educational programs; (2) takes advantage of their previous experience and knowledge; (3) assists them in utilizing existing learning resources; and (4) does not lock them into fixed schedules or locations. (Author/BEF)

A behavior management approach, designed to enhance the active involvement of children (ages 6-11) with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, has parents present behavior management situations requiring the child's choice between compliance and noncompliance and involving linkage to a consequence. Having parents (n=75) meet with therapists in…

Family-Centered Intensive Case Management, a New York State-sponsored research demonstration project, empowers and supports families of children with serious emotional disturbance, by providing respite care, flexible funding, parent support groups, and behavior management skills training. The project found that, given intensive and individualized…

In December of 2004, the reauthorization of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) was signed into law and went into effect on July 1, 2005, making dramatic changes in the area of transition from school to post-secondary life. The President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education created recommendations that influenced the new…

The Families Involved in Schools and Community (FISC) Project was a federally funded project to develop and demonstrate the use of a model Individualized Family Service Plan process for young children with challenging needs and their families. The model emphasizes an individualized family systems perspective, informal nonintrusive assessment and…

The author describes her experience as special education teacher at Berkeley High School (BHS), an urban school with over three thousand students, and how she began to question the way the school defines disability. The diversity of any large urban school has its benefits, but the size itself will always be the downfall when the school focuses on…

When considering developing educational programs for students with disabilities, one often thinks first of the annual goals and short-term objectives that are included in the individualized education program (IEP). It is important, though, to connect the short-term objectives (the "now") to long-term goals and dreams (the "future"). Making that…

In spite of theoretical validation and legal mandates in special education for parent participation, many studies have indicated that parents' roles in the Individualized Education Programs (IEP) process are still not noticeable and influential and that too often they are not being treated as an equal partner with school professionals. In…

Perhaps no topic has as thoroughly vexed officials who oversee the nation's leading test of academic progress as the wide variation among states and cities in the proportion of students with disabilities and limited English proficiency whom they exclude from taking the exam or provide with special accommodations for it. The board that sets policy…

How do professionals address accountability mandates that are derived from the No Child Left Behind Act and the overall educational needs of students who are visually impaired during the school day? Meeting state and federal mandates while maintaining the individuality of educational programs is challenging for all educators. Teachers of students…

Alternate Living, Incorporated (ALI) is a nonprofit agency supporting people with developmental disabilities in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, which includes Annapolis and some of the development south of Baltimore. In 1987, in partnership with the Human Services Institute (a private training and consulting organization in Maryland) and with a…