Students with low-incidence disabilities frequently receive less than optimal psychoeducational services because the specialized tests and instructional materials required to meet their idiosyncratic needs often are unavailable due to budget constraints, inadequate training of school personnel, and the difficulty school personnel have keeping…

Special education staff development activities in Maine are listed, and ways to serve Maine's rural areas are described. Long range goals in Maine's Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (as required by P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) are listed for collaboration, needs assessment, resource/data collection,…

The article outlines the process used in Oregon to initiate a Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD) in special education. Factors contributing to the CSPD success include extensive involvement of a wide array of people in the process, clear responsibility outlines, and workable size of the cooperative personnel planning council. (CL)

The report describes the Dissemination Model Assistance Project (DMAP), designed to assist state education agencies to comply with requirements of P.L. 94-142 (The Education For All Handicapped Children Act) for a comprehensive system of Personnel Development, specifically the dissemination and adoption of proven practices. The project drew on…

The final report of project TEACH, a project to identify and serve handicapped infants and preschoolers in Alaska, presents the program accomplishments organized by specific objectives within five major goals. The five goals are as follows (sample accomplishments within parentheses): to stimulate infant learning to the fullest extent (25 of 27…

This document offers three articles reporting research and practice on the use of paraeducators to provide support to students with disabilities and their teachers. Emphasis is on research funded by the Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs. The first article notes the increasing use of paraeducators to provide…

This paper describes the Oklahoma Statewide Training and Regional Support (STARS) program, a system of early intervention inservice training developed to comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part H. Major challenges included identification of technical assistance needs, facilitation of training attendance, identification…

The publication describes 33 Wisconsin special educational needs (SEN) programs and activities during 1977-78. The bulk of the report consists of self evaluation findings submitted by each project director. Each report is concerned with five areas: instructional program, staff development, parent education/involvement, local advisory program…

This report provides an overview of the federally funded State Improvement Grants (SIGs). Information was obtained from the 17 individual state profiles compiled for the Regional Resource Center Network SIG Report. Results of the analysis found: (1) 18 states were awarded SIGs in 1999 and the average SIG award was $1,002,949; (2) recruitment and…

A survey of all 50 states and the District of Columbia found that more than half the states utilized a Higher Education Consortium to facilitate personnel development and capacity building in the early intervention disciplines. Information about the membership, mission, and meeting structure is provided as well as possible explanations for why…

This report describes the specific requirements of Public Law 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) concerning the establishment of a Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD), Delaware's CSPD system, and a proposed action plan. The scope of the CSPD system includes inservice and preservice training for general and…

This report suggests components for a comprehensive statewide inservice training program for personnel involved in implementing the Part H program of Public Law 99-457. These components include: (1) establishment of an inservice program as a requirement for each state participating in Part H; (2) promotion of a statewide comprehensive system of…

This report describes the personnel development requirements of Public Law 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act), Delaware's Comprehensive System of Personnel Development (CSPD), and Delaware's proposed action plan. The scope of the CSPD system is covered, including descriptions of inservice and preservice training for general…

A survey of 49 Maryland service providers offering vocational services found the weekly earnings of persons placed in supported employment were 3.5 times the earning of persons employed on the premises of the service provider. Nevertheless, there was strong evidence that substantial improvements are needed, and possible, in supported employment.…

A statewide staff mentoring program was developed in Illinois as an option for providing a personalized, intensive approach to training early intervention personnel on a large scale. Evaluation results for the initial period of developing the process and for the first eight trainer-trainee dyads suggest this approach is individualized,…