The identification of students with specific learning disabilities has evolved since the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) in 2004. This reauthorization gave state agencies parameters that disallowed using the severe discrepancy model for identification as a stand-alone method. In response to…

Over the years, thousands of school systems have joined forces to provide a variety of services for their pupils. Some are relatively simple cooperatives created for a single purpose such as provision of vocational-technical or special education. Others are rather sophisticated organizations offering everything from inservice education for…

As an arm of the National Diffusion Network, the Pennsylvania State Facilitator's responsibilities include informing the schools about Title III approved programs and aiding in the actual adoption of such programs by school districts. Two aspects of the facilitator's role were identified for evaluation: (1) whether the facilitator had implemented…

This analysis focuses on the current patterns of linkage of local and intermediate education districts to State departmnts of education. Most of the literature offers suggestions and recommendations that State education departments increase their role in statewide coordination and in development and implementation of statewide educational policy.…

This publication is the second product of a three-part study funded by the Connecticut State Board of Education pertaining to the operation of educational service centers. This booklet is designed to give the citizens of the state an insight into the development of an educational enterprise that delivers to the school districts and children many…

A description is given of the structure and operation of 29 intermediate administrative units which provide consulting, advisory, administrative, or statistical services to local school districts in Pennsylvania. The basic services rendered by the units are in the areas of: (1) curriculum development and instructional improvement; (2) management;…

The essential elements of the Texas Experience-Based Career Education (EBCE) network are described and examined to determine where Texas is in terms of institutionalizing EBCE. First described are the identification of incentives for both institutional and individual participation in the statewide effort and the plans to communicate knowledge…

The creation of Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) was authorized in 1948 to function temporarily pending the creation of intermediate school districts. BOCES were viewed at their inception as a means to supplement teaching services and to provide a few nonacademic courses to school districts too small to provide their own. In…

The benefits of regional cooperation among small rural school districts are stressed in this brief description of the Educational Cooperative Service Unit (ECSU) currently serving 63,800 students in 104 member districts. A section on historical background traces the ECSU's forerunners, e.g., an educational media center established in 1965, the…

This paper gives a brief historical account of Wisconsin's Cooperative Educational Service Agencies (CESA's) and the need for changes, outlines some of the recommendations of a CESA fact-finding task force, and describes the current transition period. The first section describes the background and legislative history of the CESA, followed by an…

MANY FACTORS ARE RELATED TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN OPTIMUM SIZE FOR SCHOOL ORGANIZATION. BEFORE A STATE CAN ANSWER THE QUESTION OF SIZE, IT SHOULD PERHAPS FIRST ANSWER THE QUESTIONS--WHAT DO WE WANT THE STATE SCHOOL SYSTEM TO ACCOMPLISH, AND WHAT ARE THE STRUCTURAL ALTERNATIVES THAT WILL BE BEST FOR OUR STATE. WHEN THESE ARE ANSWERED, SIZE THEN…

Research for Better Schools, Inc., has been working with local education agencies (LEAs), intermediate service agencies (ISAs), and state education agencies (SEAs) to bring about career education impact in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. Their strategy includes three essential elements: assist LEAs in planning and implementing career…

IMPACT is a computer-based information system designed to help school districts share materials and expertise and to implement state-mandated evaluation of student achievement. It is designed to meet local, regional, and state evaluation and reporting requirements. Based upon the diagnostic-prescriptive approach to instruction, it consists of: (1)…