One way to provide intensive intervention for students with severe and persistent reading difficulties is to use a systematic data-based decision-making process called data-based individualisation (DBI). DBI is a process for identifying needs and aligning them with specialist support. Meta-analyses of DBI studies by university-based researchers…

Choosing where to apply to college is a complex problem with long-term consequences, but many students lack the guidance necessary to make optimal choices. I show that a technology which provides low-cost personalized college admissions information to over forty percent of high schoolers significantly alters college choices. Students shift…

Organizations invest billions annually in the form of Tuition Assistance Programs (TAP) with little knowledge as to the reasons why employees choose to participate. The purpose of this multiple exploratory case study was to explore the perceptions of employees with access to a TAP of at least $5,250 per year. Interviews were conducted with 17…

This study explored teachers' perceptions of implementing personalized learning in several urban elementary school classrooms. Additionally, this study examined teachers' readiness for change through the lens of Ely's (1990) Eight Conditions of Change Model. The study participants included five elementary school teachers and the school principal.…

The authors propose a system for determining which goals and target behaviors are of highest priority for handicapped students. In a meeting of the interdisciplinary treatment team, goals are set forth and ranked according to answers to a series of questions: (1) will acquiring the behavior increase the probability of the client living, being…

The book describes Pennsylvania's approach for determining placement of handicapped students in the least restrictive environment (LRE), as mandated by P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. Separate sections address the following two topics (subtopics in parentheses): the LRE decision process (content for the decision…

This paper describes the role of the Supported Housing Specialist as developed by the Wisconsin Council on Developmental Disabilities and the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services. The paper is based on extensive interviews with Marcie Brost who developed and holds the position. This paper is intended to be used with a set of…

Presents 10 comprehensive objectives related to instituting shared decision-making and individualized education in secondary schools. Illustrates applications of each objective with features from schools. (Author/JM)

The Families Involved in Schools and Community (FISC) Project was a federally funded project to develop and demonstrate the use of a model Individualized Family Service Plan process for young children with challenging needs and their families. The model emphasizes an individualized family systems perspective, informal nonintrusive assessment and…

Industrial Education is attempting to bring all of its components into an integrated effort to provide continuous growth for students. Six concepts basic to this attempt are vertical articulation, horizontal correlation, individual alternatives, common decision-making base, appropriate learning outcomes, and flexibility. (Author/KP)

This report evaluates how effective the brokerage system operated by the Community Living Society in Vancouver (British Columbia) has been in meeting the needs of individuals with a mental handicap living in the community. The program stresses service brokerage, a mechanism to deliver the planning resources required to arrange and purchase…

Discussion of the dynamics of individualized funding for providing services to people with developmental disabilities focuses on how individual funding may drive the changes necessary to develop services that offer highly customized assistance. This discussion considers why the concept of paying customers is powerful but misleading in light of…

Author discusses the goals of open classroom" teaching, notes the contrast between traditional teaching methods and those of open education, while suggesting that those who believe in the new techniques start demonstrating to the public that chaos or abdication of the school's responsibility will not result. (PD)

Intended for state education agency personnel and others concerned with implementation of P.L. 94-142 (Education for All Handicapped Children Act), the booklet presents summaries and findings of three research projects on individualized education programs (IEPs) and the planning team (PT) process. Reported on are the following three studies: a…