Family support is essential for academic success and the creation of resilient learners. Support is a complex and contested terrain that is variously described based on disparate philosophical lenses through which it is viewed. It cannot be denied that learners are bound to encounter several challenges during their educational expedition that…

One of the greatest challenges that community colleges face in their efforts to increase graduation rates is improving the success of students in their developmental, or remedial, education programs. This literature review seeks to examine research on developmental education strategies and reforms and identify the most promising approaches for…

The paper reviews a panel presentation on the essential components, policies, and strategies of a system for effectively moving emotionally disturbed (ED) students into least restrictive educational environments and maintaining them there. The first two parts of the session focused on a system for partially mainstreaming center school (seventh and…

Successful transition for young handicapped children into other programs depends on a variety of factors, including personnel time, development of a comprehensive transition plan, positive teacher attitudes, and careful followup. Problems in transitioning may include weak evaluation procedures, limited social capacity of handicapped students, and…

The Ninth Grade Houses Program of the New York City public high schools is described, and evaluation outcomes and recommendations are presented. The general goal was to help ninth graders adjust to high school. The purposes were to: (1) generate student engagement; (2) provide opportunity for sustained, meaningful interaction with respected…

A qualitative observational study of standardized group testing in 10 kindergartens revealed variations in testing conditions, discrepancies from standardized administration procedures, and variations in children's behavior that contributed to difficulties in maintaining a uniform testing process. High-stakes group testing in kindergarten should…

The paper describes a case-by-case reintegrating strategy for transfer of special education students to less restrictive environments (RLE) stressing "transenvironmental programming" (TP), student-directed interventions, and collaborative consultation. Implementation involved 10 experimental subjects and 10 controls who were elementary grade…

Increasing numbers of capable learning disabled students are attempting to make the difficult transition from high school to postsecondary programming. A comprehensive approach to better serve the college-bound learning disabled high school student includes early transition planning, instructional programming, social skills intervention, and…

This study evaluated the short-term and long-term effects of three variants of a case-by-case process for readying students with learning disabilities to move successfully from resource rooms to regular classrooms for math instruction. Twenty-seven special educators from 21 elementary and middle schools and their 47 students with learning…

New Beginning is a transitional program for limited-English-proficient (LEP) secondary school students in Dade County, Florida whose prior school experience was interrupted or limited. The program currently serves 102 students in four schools. Most participants are Hispanic or Haitian. Students are selected by district-wide criteria and grouped in…

An evaluation of the developmental first grade, or pre-first grade, program of the Irving Independent School District (Texas) was conducted through four studies. Students are placed in the pre-first grade as a transition between kindergarten and first grade, typically on the basis of some assessment of maturity. The first study examined the…

This paper focuses on the secondary school experiences of Hispanic students with disabilities, presenting findings from the National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS) of Special Education Students. The 5-year NLTS study included data on more than 8,000 students (of whom 733 were Hispanic) enrolled in special education in the 1985-86 school…

In 1987, the New York City Board of Education established the following three placement units responsible for improving school attendance and preventing dropping out among at-risk youth: (1) the Central Placement Unit (CPU); (2) the Persons In Need of Supervision (PINS) Diversion Unit; and (3) the Bronx District Attorney's Educational Outreach…

This paper examines the negotiations that occur in a specific educational setting when traditional student placement practices are challenged and redesigned in an effort to better meet the needs of English language learners. The settings for these negotiations is an elementary school where over 90 percent of the students are native English…

A procedure used by a university-affiliated intensive English language program to mainstream students into regular academic courses is described. The program, affiliated with Southeast Missouri State University, includes traditional English-as-a-Second-Language courses with heavy emphasis on writing and reading skills, and courses in American…