This study investigated the effectiveness of a program designed to train paraeducators to use prompting strategies to teach students with moderate to severe intellectual and multiple disabilities. The paraeducator training program contained three components: a) an initial training on using task direction, time delay, most to least prompting, and…

The role of the special educator has changed. Similar to general educators, special educators are more accountable, more specialized, and more collaborative. To be effective in this new role, special educators need to recommit to the founding principles of the discipline and embrace the tools that allow them to meet the needs of students with…

Despite skyrocketing growth in its English Language Learner (ELL) population, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has been remarkably effective in improving outcomes for ELL students across the district. Achievement has increased, and gaps between ELL students and their native English-speaking peers have decreased. This success is intentional.…

This newsletter begins with an editorial on the purposes and methods of individualizing foreign language instruction. Mirta R. Vega describes an individualized Spanish course for English speakers, produced by the Dade Co. Public Schools, Miami, Florida. Also presented is a list, compiled by Robert McClennan, of the potential problems of foreign…

This paper delves into the concepts of individualized instruction at the elementary school level. Following an explanation of individualized instruction, the paper presents two differing points of view concerning how provisions can be made to individualize instruction: a) the patterned approach, which emphasizes the logical sequence involved in…

A properly used training plan for cooperative work training can be the most effective tool in the distributive education coordinator's possession. The purpose of this manual is to help distributive education teacher/coordinators to develop and use training plans in their own cooperative work programs. After an introduction the development of a…

This newsletter begins with an editorial comment on the current progress of foreign language individualization. Other items included are: "Practical First Steps for Individualizing--Suggestions for Teachers Who Must Start from Scratch" (Ronald Gougher); "A Statement on Skills and Feelings: The Dimension of 'Depth' in Individualization" (Earl…

The project is an attempt, through vocational education, to educate the disinterested and disadvantaged high school individually prescribed education (identification, diagnosis, prescription, and program modification) and places heavy emphasis on the role of student ombudsman or advocate. (AG)

Elements of the individual education plan (IEP), developed to provide flexible and meaningful training for the handicapped child, are presented. Deals with awareness, exploration, evaluation, preparation, job development/job placement, employability skills, parents, community interests, and follow-up. An appropriate education strategy is also…

This article notes the increasing emphasis on self-determination in the school-to-adulthood transition movement, describes four self-determination models, and outlines instructional programs to promote self-determination in students with learning disabilities. Emerging issues are identified, including redefinition of roles, importance of taking…

A novel approach to the collection and utilization of program treatment information that quantifies innovative educational practices is described. Data was collected from groups of students within grade and within subject matter area who were exposed to the same program characteristics. These flexibly defined "educational experience…

Audiovisual programs designed to bring current developments in medicine to general practitioners individually are also meant to shape their subsequent behavior. There are many problems in preparing these programs, most of them involved with the fact that the medical consultant and the educational production group must work interdependently. The…

Three alternatives for education in the future are presented in the paper, which was initially delivered as a university graduate school lecture. The author first describes three groups of children with different life environments--the advantaged, the silent majority, and the disadvantaged. The significance of possible educational alternatives is…