This report describes the work done by the 48 State Deaf-Blind Projects awarded grants by the Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in late 2013. The report documents the technical assistance and dissemination activities carried out by the Projects and their collaborative activities, describes the needs for…

As national attention has increasingly focused on the potential for high-quality early childhood education (ECE) to improve children's school readiness, states have developed quality rating and improvement systems (QRISs) to document the quality of ECE programs, support systematic quality improvement, and provide clear information to families…

The University of Florida offers continuing education units (CEUs) via distance technology using Polycom[R] to meet requirements for applicators of pesticides to renew their licenses. A large statewide event conducted in 2010 also included a needs assessment of this group concerning CEUs. Results indicate that these applicators strongly prefer…

Although Early Head Start (EHS) is a federal-to-local program, there are opportunities for collaboration at the state level that have expanded in recent years. State leaders can seize opportunities to break down silos and create collaborative state systems and programs to better meet the needs of vulnerable young children in their states. This…

This article examines how the states plan to implement the Programs of Study (POS) that were mandated by the 2006 reauthorization of the federal legislation for career and technical education. A coding system was developed for summarizing the methods described in the plans of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.…

Providing health care services for foster children, who frequently have significant health care needs, can be challenging. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) oversees foster care, but state child welfare agencies are responsible for ensuring that these children receive health care services, which are often financed by Medicaid. In…

State and local efforts at interagency collaboration for handicapped children are examined in a report that first describes the mandates of P.L. 94-142, The Education For All Handicapped Children Act. Effective approaches to state-level interagency collaboration in Louisiana, Delaware, Maine, New Jersey, Michigan, Rhode Island, Massachusetts,…

According to data from the Job Corps' Student Pay, Allotment and Management Information System (SPAMIS), approximately 54% of all individuals enrolled in the Job Corps program in 1993 received training in the state where they lived. The extent to which Job Corps participants were served in centers located within their state of residence varied…

A State Implementation Grant Program (SIG) project coordinated an interagency approach to services for handicapped children, from birth to 3 years of age, in Maryland. A SIG panel was established from representatives of public and private agencies and consumers. The panel first identified existing services for the population (the matrix of…

The document reports the first year's accomplishments of the New York State Implementation Grant to improve the delivery of services to handicapped children ages birth to 5 years. Activities are discussed for the following areas: developing guidelines supporting legislation, developing a written plan as part of the annual state plan, establishing…

The document reports a study for the California State Department of Education to provide clarification of existing studies and reports on the cost of special education in California. Chapter 1 covers the background of the study, purpose and plan, study design (which included review of existing cost reports and studies and structured interviews…

To provide more equitable special education services for blind, deaf, physically handicapped, and autistic children in all parts of Oregon, a funding formula was developed at the direction of the 1981 state legislative assembly. The formula is based on development of a state approved funding level by handicap and by instructional delivery system…

The report details accomplishments of Texas's Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) program and describes the program's interagency organization and services. The history of early intervention in Texas is traced and the need for early intervention documented. Interagency cooperation among the departments of health, mental health and mental…

Respite child care is a form of short-term care provided in a family day care home or a child care center for the purpose of helping families that are experiencing stress. At an average cost of $300 to $400 per month, respite care is cost effective. Since 1983, California's child care resource and referral agencies have administered a small…

Responses (N=22) to a nationwide survey of learning disability consultants indicated that 68% of states provided services for learning disabled preschool children; that funding included federal, state, local, and private sources; that various assessment instruments were used; and that consultants identified such major issues as possible negative…