Most districts are facing severe budgetary constraints, and special education is one area that is feeling the effects. Special education consumes an average of 20%-30% of school district budgets. Pacing fiscal and systemic controls on special-education spending, and examining para professional placements in particular, will lead to better delivery…

To evaluate the effectiveness of Service Unit Management (SUM) in reducing costs, improving quality of care, saving professional nursing time, increasing personnel satisfaction, and setting a stage for further improvements, a national questionnaire survey identified the characteristics of SUM units, and compared the performance of a total of 55…

Describes the effects of the automation of cataloging processes at Pennsylvania State University. The discussion covers the reorganization of professional and paraprofessional personnel and job responsibilities, staff reactions to the changes, the impact on cataloging quality and efficiency, and patron satisfaction with the services offered. (15…

This paper outlines the history of paraprofessionals and reviews the reasons for their use. However, its main focus is on the specific ways in which these people are currently being used in the schools. The authors discuss the two major kinds of paraprofessionals -- service-oriented and instructional -- and analyze the various methods that have…

This report describes school operation changes in scheduling, curriculum, decisionmaking powers, and individualization of instruction that are concurrent with the adoption of differentiated staffing. The author defines differentiated staffing, explains where and at what levels it has been utilized, provides descriptions of results achieved, gives…

This report gives a brief history of a differentiated staffing (DS) and outlines the major differences between horizontal and vertical differentiation. The Temple City model provides an example of vertical differentiation, while the Top of the World Elementary School plan is given as a model of horizontal differentiation. Obstacles to DS…