High school graduation rates remain unacceptably low in the U.S., especially among disadvantaged youth (Chapman, Laird, Ifill, & KelalRamani, 2011; Stillwell, 2010), with troubling implications for future earnings and employment status (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). Check & Connect (C&C) is an individualized program that pairs…

This article examines how inclusive education activities can be facilitated through coaching as a means of professional development. A review of literature on effective professional development practices is discussed, and a recent study focused on individualized peer coaching is examined.

This information brief provides an example of how one locally-initiated program has implemented the Peer Support Specialist role for youth and young adults with serious mental health conditions. The brief covers aspects of training, coaching, supervision, role definition and financing; and describes challenges and solutions.

When the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was reauthorized in 2004, it eliminated the requirement that individualized education programs (IEPs) include short-term objectives or benchmarks, except for students with disabilities who take alternate assessments aligned to alternate achievement standards. Instead, the IDEA regulations…

The formation of a consortium of schools and an ensuing project in individually guided education (IGE) are described. (HMD)

SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND COMPUTER SIMULATION TECHNIQUES WERE APPLIED IN DESCRIBING THE BIOLOGY COURSE AT THE THEODORE HIGH SCHOOL, THEODORE, ALABAMA, WHICH WAS SELECTED AS THE UNIT OF STUDY BECAUSE OF ITS ORGANIZATION OF COURSES FOR INDIVIDUAL PROGRESS. A DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE BIOLOGY COURSE WAS PRESENTED IN TERMS OF THE (1) INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA,…

Two-hundred and sixty-five individual education plans (IEPs) from 13 California school districts representing programs operating under traditional special education funding were evaluated to determine their comprehensiveness, specificity, clarity, and extent to which a "least restrictive environment" was provided. Through interviews with…

SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND COMPUTER SIMULATION TECHNIQUES WERE APPLIED IN A STUDY OF THE ORGANIZATION OF A BIOLOGY COURSE FOR INDIVIDUAL PROGRESS. THEODORE HIGH SCHOOL AT THEODORE, ALABAMA, WAS SELECTED FOR STUDY BECAUSE OF ITS APPROACH TO THE ORGANIZATION OF ITS RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS TO LEARN ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. DESCRIBED IN THIS INTRODUCTORY…

The Far West Laboratory Model (Far West School) in downtown Oakland, California, an employer-based career education program of experiential learning, has focused on the developmental issues of how high school academic requirements and career exploration in the community can be integrated into a common set of learning activities, and the virtues…

The purpose of this successful experimental program at the College of San Mateo was to determine whether active participation in an individualized instructional program such as the Learning Center would be related to a lower level of attrition of first-time freshmen who are identified as high probability dropouts. Forty-nine potential dropout…

The recent passage of legislation in California requiring local education agencies to establish performance based education programs will increase the role and responsibilities of school librarians and media specialists. The legislation will result in giving librarians, through the goals established by the school district, specific objectives in…

The Youth Career Action Program is an example of a vocational-educational program that can be implemented within a large city in conjunction with a secondary school district. The YCAP Center provides a clearly designated place for hard-to-place young people--primarily those who are under-educated, economically disadvantaged, and have little…

A new program in California partners the California Department of Corrections with a non-profit drug treatment agency on behalf of pregnant or parenting women who are drug offenders with substance abuse histories. The women are sentenced to the family foundations facility for one year and receive a range of special services to prepare for…

The NIMH Healthy Living Project (HLP), a randomized behavioral intervention trial for people living with HIV, enrolled 943 individuals, including women, heterosexual men, injection drug users, and men who have sex with men from Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, and San Francisco. The intervention, which is based on qualitative formative research…

Describes one of California's compensatory education efforts, the diagnostic/prescriptive/individualized mathematics program at Franklin Junior High School in Long Beach, where the majority of the students are transient, minority background, and from welfare families. Value of the program is shown by the fact that Franklin students who had been…