Special education service delivery is often the source of disputes between parents and districts and an issue in special education class-action lawsuits. Despite these controversies, there has been little large-scale research on the delivery of services. This study represents a large-scale assessment of the delivery of special education services…

The Education for All Handicapped Children Act was reauthorized as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990. When reauthorized in 2004 it maintained the IDEA acronym although it is now the Individuals with Disabilities Education "Improvement" Act. The federal government further demonstrated its emphasis on…

The author investigated the level of participation and experiences of 5 Chinese parents of children with disabilities in individualized education program (IEP) meetings through observations and interviews. Results of the study suggested that the Chinese parents were dissatisfied with 12 of 15 observed IEP meetings. The level of parental…

This manual provides a sequential procedure for conducting functional vocational evaluations for secondary school students as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. This evaluation procedure considers the interactions of the student with instructors, peers, and employers; training needs; work demands; environmental factors;…

This study examined the opinions and practices of 59 of Alabama's rehabilitation counselors who are assigned to serve secondary students with disabilities. Results are presented within the areas of: (1) Individualized Transition Program; (2) student/parent participation in transition, (3) assessment, (4) vocational preparation, (5) service…

This publication is intended to provide rehabilitation professionals with information about and structure for conducting the client information-gathering process prior to beginning vocational evaluation services. It can be divided into two major parts: (1) presentation of information and a model for structuring the information-gathering process…

This chapter on curriculum adaptation and development is taken from a guide to designing, implementing, and evaluating instruction and services for students with disabilities. It provides an overview of major curriculum options and systematic processes for selection, adaptation, and design of a curriculum for students with disabilities. Two major…

The authors criticize the regulations of P.L. 94-142, The Education For All Handicapped Children Act, regarding individualized education programs (IEPs). It is suggested that although the underlying concepts of IEPs are sound philosophically and educationally, the IEP in practice is inefficient in terms of time and actually detrimental to…

Two years of pilot projects are described that attempt to measure special education pupils' progress without being overly global or overly restrictive. It is explained that to be helpful to students, parents, teachers, and other staff, an evaluation system should provide connections between individualized education programs (IEPs), instructional…

The paper describes a framework for assessing students with suspected learning or behavior problems. The process is outlined in sequences which are designed to guide staff from the point of identification to the point where an alternative program may be recommended. Each sequence is described in terms of a step title, a description of procedures…

The paper examines the use in special education of computerized data management systems (CDMS). CDMS are electronic report generators and databases that provide individualized records (Individual Education Plans or IEP) in a structured format. Examples of software functions and hardware required are cited. Three major sources of software for IEP…

A three phase study was conducted on the role of regular classroom teachers in implementing individualized education programs (IEPs) for mainstreamed special education students. IEPs in 20 elementary sites were reviewed in phase 1, 59 elementary teachers were surveyed in phase 2, and 16 of those surveyed participated in interviews in phase 3. Five…

Four papers address approaches to evaluate the implementation of the individualized education program (IEP) provisions of P.L. 94-142, The Education for All Handicapped Children Act. The papers are "Auditing the IEP System: A Self-Audit System for Use by Local Education Agencies" by Beth Stephens and Daniel Macy, which examines a 10-step…

The handbook presents guidelines and suggestions for the use with handicapped students of the cloze procedure, a method for systematically deleting words from a prose passage and evaluating the reader's success in supplying them. Chapter 1 considers the use of the cloze procedures for assessment purposes and notes the differences between cloze…

The manual provides guidelines for developing individualized education programs (IEPs) and determining the educational placement of handicapped children in St. Louis County, Missouri. The introduction summarizes requirements of Public Law 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) regarding the IEP provision. The next chapter examines…