The practicum was designed to increase the usefulness of psychoeducational data provided by the school psychologist for educational decision making concerning handicapped students at the elementary level. The first goal was to provide staffing committee members with psychoeducational data in a more useful form than data provided through…

The practicum addressed the needs of 3- to 5-year-old language learning disabled (LLD) children who required more individualization in their curriculum and longer time on task. The practicum goals were: (1) to address 80% of the children's short term individualized education program (IEP) goals; (2) to increase the children's independent time on…

The practicum addressed the problem of lack of parent involvement in the development of IEPs (Individualized Education Programs) for their handicapped children, through development of a slide program and associated materials. The program attempted to educate parents regarding the IEP process, their role in it according to Public Law 94-142 (The…

This practicum addressed educators' concerns that relatively few parents involve themselves in the reevaluation process of high school-level students with mild disabilities. The practicum sought to increase parent involvement in the development of 10 students' academic and career/vocational programs. The practicum involved encouraging parents to…

This practicum was designed to assist 13 newly hired special education teachers to function more effectively. Data indicated that newly hired teachers, who were non-certified teachers, teachers who were certified but working out of their area of certification, and first year teachers, did not know how to work with children with special needs,…

A prereferral intervention program was instituted: to ensure that children within a Head Start program who had special needs were identified and referred in a timely manner; to prevent the mistaken referral or labeling of children with mild delays who did not require intervention; and to increase the effectiveness of the existing referral system.…

The school district in this practicum report was found to be out of compliance by the State Department of Education in the area of writing individualized education plans (IEPs) that contained goals and short-term objectives with measurable student outcomes. Informal workshops were held to provide the special education teachers training for writing…

For a school year, a language arts software program was used to help special needs children in Marblehead, Massachusetts who represented a range of learning disabilities and emotional, behavioral and physical disorders of varying degrees of severity. The program had three major components, entitled "Nouns,""Verbs," and "Adjectives." These…

This practicum was designed to improve the delivery of special education services to all students with special needs in a rural Canadian school district. The goal was for teachers, as members of program planning teams, to design and implement individual program plans for exceptional students according to district special education policy…

During an 8-month practicum, 41 mildly disabled high school students; their teachers, parents, and counselors; and community business representatives cooperated in defining individual school-to-work transition goals in educational, occupational/career, and social/personal areas. The major aim was to realistically and adequately prepare these…

This practicum study was designed to improve the communication and social skills of 43 students (ages 14-22) with developmental disabilities by involving families in at-home treatment activities that reinforced and enhanced in-school and community-based speech/language therapy and by increasing attendance of parents at school meetings and…

The practicum report describes inservice training to increase mainstream elementary teachers' (N=15) awareness of the ramifications of having an emotionally handicapped child in the regular classroom through increased knowledge of the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) and its guidelines and procedures. The inservice program was developed and…

Developed for teachers of educable mentally impaired students at the early elementary level in the Detroit Public Schools, this lesson plan format uses performance objectives based on the annual goals and short-term instructional objectives cited in students' Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). The format is intended to be concise and useful…

This practicum was designed to enhance the school and home learning environments of 20 neurologically and perceptually impaired students in kindergarten through sixth grade. Participating students received daily regular class and resource room instruction. Needs assessment measures revealed that little learning characteristic data were available…

Through joint efforts of mental health and education professionals, a school-based therapeutic/educational program for seriously emotionally disturbed children, some of whom had additional identified disabilities such as mental retardation, was initiated with 15 students (ages 8-13). The educational component of the program was based on an…