States are increasingly using value-added approaches to evaluate teacher effectiveness. There is much debate regarding whether these methods should be employed and, if employed, what role such methods should play in comprehensive teacher evaluation systems. In this article, we consider the use of value-added modeling (VAM) to evaluate special…

The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC) reported 348,604 children received services in the United States under Part C of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 2009, representing 2.7% of the population (NECTAC, 2012). Early Intervention (EI), or Part C, is designed to provide services to families of…

During the past decade, responsiveness to intervention (RTI) has become popular among many practitioners as a means of transforming schooling into a multilevel prevention system. Popularity aside, its successful implementation requires ambitious intent, a comprehensive structure, and coordinated service delivery. An effective RTI also depends on…

Background: Care and service trajectories for people with intellectual disabilities are routes within the health care delivery system that consist of all the steps that people with intellectual disability and their families have to take in order to realize needed care and services. In contrast to the growing body of system-orientated knowledge…

As part of the federal Preschool Development Grant Program in late 2014, the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) was awarded a Preschool Expansion Grant (referred to as the Massachusetts PEG program) to expand high-quality early childhood education to four-year-old children from low-income families. The Massachusetts PEG…

The paper focuses on catalysts needed for interagency cooperation in multi-service delivery systems for handicapped individuals. The importance of interfacing personal and environmental profiles is emphasized, and an approach matching aspects of the person and the environment is described. A behavioral skill profile of the person would be matched…

The paper describes Quality Service Management (QSM) as applied to the provision of services to disabled and other special needs persons. QSM is defined as a systems approach to consumer relations based on the belief that quality care may be achieved only within the context of overall services management. Differences among "quality…

The article examines effects of implementation of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986, Part H, Handicapped Infants and Toddlers, including goals and expectations for family support, a comprehensive family support program, and assessment and service options. (DB)

This report provides guidelines for Client Assistance Programs (CAPs), established to assist applicants and clients of programs and facilities funded under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This report developed out of a study to provide information to increase cooperative approaches of benefit to both programs and clients and to create training…

The first of three parts of the Vocational Evaluation Project final report contains an editorial, two task force reports, and brief summaries of the seven task force reports which comprise the final report. The editorial summarizes the project's purpose, its activities for the three years of its existence, and its results, and describes the task…

This paper notes the need for an empirically based model for helping students with disabilities make transitions toward less restrictive settings and exit special education. Emphasis is on defining the least restrictive environment, identifying students with mild disabilities who are potential candidates for reintegration, assessing the…

Challenges faced in the evaluation of programs for the disabled are discussed, focusing on values orientation, key stakeholders, program structure, and measurement issues. Workers in the field are presently witnessing a fundamental change in the philosophy that underlies programs for persons with disabilities. Evaluators must be sensitive to the…

The paper considers the concept of needs assessment in terms of the activities of TADS (Technical Assistance Development System), a project to provide support services to model demonstration projects and state education agency grantees of the Handicapped Children's Early Education Program. Section 1 defines needs assessment, describes approaches…

This response to an article evaluating Indiana's early intervention service delivery (EC 628 669) notes additional important aspects such as the central finance model used, the value of the Indiana data system in tracking the amount and type of services provided, the incentive provided to complete all the Individual Family Service Plan data…

The manual serves as a model for school districts developing procedures for supervising and evaluating their therapy services. The narrative is addressed to therapists rather than supervisors so that school districts can photocopy or adapt sections of the manual and assemble customized manuals for therapists in their programs. The first chapter,…