This practicum study evaluated a non-basal, multidisciplinary, multisensory approach to teaching higher order reading comprehension skills to eight fifth-grade learning-disabled students from low socioeconomic minority group backgrounds. The four comprehension skills were: (1) identifying the main idea; (2) determining cause and effect; (3) making…

A study evaluated a program designed to improve the reading attitude of students who had the skills to read independently but chose not to during their recreational reading time. Subjects, 25 third grade students enrolled in a public school in a rapidly growing city in Florida, performed in the 80th percentile or above on county, state, and…

This practicum report describes a recruitment program to include black residents in a residential program for teenage girls with emotional problems. Recruitment efforts stressed the following four principles: (1) staff preparation for work within a multicultural setting; (2) presentation of the facility to new black referral sources; (3) renewed…

A motivational plan to reduce bus discipline referrals in a K-5 elementary school is presented in this practicum paper. Methodology involved observation of student behavior on 13 buses, pre- and post-tests administered to third- through fifth-graders, and document analysis of student misconduct citations and bus conduct reports. Referral…

The practicum had as its goals increased awareness of alternative speech and language service models in a public school setting, increased usage of the alternative models, and consensus among speech and language therapists regarding direct and indirect service models. The project design used the Delphi method (four rounds) with 16 speech and…

Implemented at a community center, this practicum developed an educational program which informed parents and teachers of ways to help children progress during and after divorce. Specific goals were: (1) to implement an educational program for parents, children, and teachers that focused on reducing the effects of divorce on children; (2) to…

This practicum attempted to promote teacher and student sensitivity to seven mainstreamed, oral, elementary school children with hearing impairments. It also aimed to promote more social interaction between students with impaired hearing and those with normal hearing and to effect a more comfortable transition from a special school to the…

A practicum project was designed to retrain preschool personnel on the importance of indoor play and on their role during play sessions. Workshops and training sessions were developed to examine the physical environment of the classroom, discuss play theories, and review skills that children can develop during play sessions. Pre- and posttests,…

This practicum was designed to increase the inclusion of elementary-level students who have physical disabilities with their nondisabled peers in art, recess, and media center activities. Regular education classes were invited to join the art activities in the self-contained class for the students with physical disabilities, and a total of four…

The low number of high school students electing to take advantage of the training available at a vocational school was addressed by implementing a program of activities intended to increase knowledge and develop critical thinking skills in decision making. The program took place in a West Florida high school with 1,819 students in grades 9-12, the…

The practicum addressed the need to serve a group of severely handicapped preschool children within local neighborhood programs rather than in a segregated preschool center. The practicum goals were: (1) to maintain the enrollment of severely handicapped children in neighborhood preschool and daycare centers through the provision of adequate…

This practicum was designed to assist the 25 students in one fifth-grade classroom where students projected a predominant feeling of not wanting to attend school and where many students, although all average to above average in intelligence, were not attaining consistent scores for achievement in relation to their potential. A 12-week program was…

A program was developed at a local college to provide directors of child care centers, Head Start programs, nursery schools, and school-based early childhood programs with formal training in administration, supervision, and program development to help them better manage their programs. The program was the result of a collaborative effort by…

A university early childhood laboratory school was making a transition from an academic orientation to one focusing on developmentally appropriate practices. This practicum was implemented to improve parents' awareness of developmentally appropriate programs by means of workshop sessions. The goal was to increase their knowledge of what is…

This practicum was designed to retrain preschool personnel on the importance of cultural diversity and the teacher's role in developing and implementing a multicultural curriculum. Faculty meetings and workshops were organized to present a cultural awareness curriculum to preschool staff and discuss the teacher's role in executing the curriculum.…