Principals must be instructional leaders in their schools in order to adhere to federal, state, and local mandates as well as being able to discern that the programs for students with disabilities are being developed and implemented with fidelity to meet the needs of those students. The transition a school goes through to include students with…

The report describes activities and results of the second year of the Special Education Planning Model (SEPM), designed to help planners and policymakers estimate special education program needs and costs. SEPM uses a computer simulation based on users' assumptions and priorities in such areas as incidence rates, handicapping conditions to be…

Judgment based assessment (JBA) in early childhood special education is discussed in its theoretical context and noted are three trends: (1) the widening of JBA to include emotional characteristics and developmental processes; (2) inclusion of such informants as peers and persons with disabilities; and (3) development of new methods for eliciting…

Designed to make disabled individuals aware of their own potential entrepreneurial capacities, this self-help manual provides information to help potential entrepreneurs make appropriate small business decisions and to find needed information and resources. Following a discussion of entrepreneurship as an employment option, various topics relevant…

This article presents a series of decision trees to help in planning assessment and intervention with handicapped children between three months and five years of age. A series of assessment questions lead to suggestions for intervention. Steps in using the decision trees are given and a case example presented. (Author/DB)

The application of curriculum-based assessment (CBA) procedures across five decision-making areas in special education is presented, including screening and referring, determining eligibility and classifying, planning programs, monitoring progress and modifying programs, and evaluating programs. CBA procedures are proposed as a feasible,…

The article suggests that computer expert systems that do not require exotic languages and machines will soon be applied in human services to help decision making in the areas of eligibility determination, casework quality control, written service plans for clients or students, job placement, service acquisition, and policy interpretation.…

The Teaching Research Transition Planning Project (Oregon) is implementing and evaluating the development of school/community teams to facilitate transition of handicapped students into the community. Preliminary evaluation results support the value of an outside stimulus to encourage collaboration, locally generated plans, and policy decision…

This article considers areas of general agreement and challenges concerning decision making about such educationally related services as occupational and physical therapy for students with disabilities. It offers guidelines in such areas as teamwork, educational program components, values that underlie decision making, functions of related…

This guide is a product of a study of factors associated with exemplary inclusive high schools and focuses on the key factor of leadership. The study identified four schools and studied them for 2 years using various data collection methods. This resulting document describes what school and district leaders can do to build inclusive programs and…

This report describes the decision-making model that provides the theoretical framework being developed by the Early Childhood Research Institute on Measuring Growth and Development (ECRI-MGD) in a 5-year project to generate a set of common child and family indicators that can be used within a comprehensive system of service delivery for young…

This text is on transdisciplinary team assessment of infants and toddlers at developmental risk and emphasizes both the dynamics (interpersonal strategies) and the mechanics (team assessment strategies) of teamwork. Emphasis is on assessment for the development of Individualized Family Service Plans. Chapter 1 reviews major developmental…

The document offers guidelines for developing a management by information system for special education services, a system that organizes people, equipment, procedures, and communications to collect and present accurate data that administrators can use to make decisions and to provide information to state and federal governments. Following a…

The article discusses how the collaborative relationships of classroom, remedial, and special education teachers might be improved to develop specialized reading programs for low achieving and handicapped students. A decision-making framework based on levels of intensity of instruction is offered for the stages of the consultative process.…

The Education TECH Point system can be used by school districts as a tool to develop effective federally required assistive technology delivery systems for students with disabilities. The technique involves the systematic analysis of questions concerning: initial referral, evaluation, extended assessment, plan development, implementation, and…