The workbook suggests a concrete procedure for initiating a cooperative effort to collect and summarize information so that plans can be made for serving handicapped preschoolers. Once the workbook is completed, it can be used as a baseline for evaluating the progress of community activities, to make revisions in the plans and to share changes…

The parent-teacher conference is widely endorsed as an effective method of reporting pupil progress. They are particularly valuable because the conferences provide an opportunity for two-way communication about students. The understanding gained in a conference can help the school and home work together to bring out the maximum in a student.…

Presenting 12 standards by which school districts can document evidence of a well-planned comprehensive reading program, this publication can also be used as a guideline for identification of promising practices, assessment of current programs, development of long-range goals and program plans, planning inservice and staff development programs,…

This guide is designed to help school communities make good choices about early literacy intervention. The guide distinguishes between "reading" (a process of learning to decode and comprehend texts) and a broader concept of "literacy" that includes understanding of the value of language and reading (emergent literacy), the…

Addresses pitfalls in formulating individualized education program (IEP) goals and objectives for handicapped students as mandated by P.L. 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act). Short-term objectives are subordinate to goals and should reflect a hierarchical relationship to goal. Some of the inadequacies of written objectives are…

Presents a questionnaire that helps gather valuable information about students' attitudes toward mandatory placement in basic writing courses. Concludes that with the kind of information gleaned from responses to questionnaires similar to this one, educators can better understand the strengths and weaknesses of basic writing programs and revise…

During 1993-94, Spokane Community College's Student Learning Outcomes project focused on abilities-based measurements, and specifically, on measurements of the "Responsibility for Learning" ability. Activities included two summer planning retreats; faculty focus groups to discuss the interpretation of "Responsibility for…

This report describes a leadership training seminar for administrators responsible for developing re-entry or transition workshops for foreign students. Background and introduction sections describe the challenges that foreign students face when they return to their own countries after study in the United States and their need for assistance in…

The number of service programs offered in the high schools is substantial and appears to be increasing. A survey questionnaire sent to four-year public and private high schools sought information on the development and progress of service programs. The responses to the questionnaire are analyzed and discussed in this monograph. Chapter 1 deals…

To increase parent involvement and meet the need for adult help in classrooms, a preschool director implemented a practicum in a church-owned, nondenominational preschool serving 250 children from an upper-middle-class community in the Northeast. The intervention offered a wide range of parent involvement activities, including the formation of a…

The guide, based upon Vocational Education of Handicapped Students: A Guide for Policy Development by S. Davis and M. Ward, is intended to help local education agency (LEA) administrators and supervisors conduct evaluation and needs assessment of vocational education programs, policies, and procedures related to handicapped students. Each of eight…

The purposes of this article are to review the in-service teacher education literature and to present a survey instrument produced in a Teacher Corps project with respect to one aspect of needs assessment for in-service education, that of teachers' preliminary preferences and priorities. (Author)

Quality afterschool programs offer participants productive ways to spend the crucial afterschool hours--whether these hours are between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. on school days, during weekends, or before school--that otherwise might be spent in unsupervised and potentially harmful activities. Also, afterschool programs help provide additional support to…

This paper describes a process for developing quality teacher education programs. The process begins with the core beliefs of all faculty members involved in the program. A retreat is an appropriate place to start the process of promoting appropriate philosophy and developing core beliefs in faculty members. Once this process is completed, it is…

The Distance Learning Policy Laboratory of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and many states and regional organizations are coming to a consensus on the principles and goals that should shape distance learning policies. In the case of quality assurance, the SREB believes there are four guiding principles that states should follow.…