The foster youth education program strives to increase graduation rates by improving academic performance and encouraging student retention through an innovative collaboration between tutors, social workers, and schools to provide individualized support. The pilot program was funded by U.S. Department of Education Innovation Funds, which evolving…

The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the U.S. Department of Education funded the National Center on Intensive Intervention (NCII, or the Center) in 2011. NCII's mission during the first five years of funding was to build the capacity of local education agencies (LEAs) to support schools, practitioners, and other stakeholders in the…

Over 15 years after passage of legislation requiring the use of functional behavioral assessment (FBA) to inform the development of positive behavior support plans (BSPs) in special education, schools are still struggling to implement BSPs based on FBA and the function of behavior. A primary concern is that school teams regularly fail to use…

A project to provide technical assistance to staffs of two demonstration programs for preschool handicapped children and their families is described. The focus was technical assistance developed and exercised by the Technical Assistance Development System (TADS), which assisted in the development of the Handicapped Children's Early Education…

Home programs for young handicapped children have the potential for enhancing the partnership between home and school. In an effective home program the parent is viewed as the person most qualified to facilitate the child's development. This paper focuses on the philosophy of home programming and details some useful strategies which can be used by…

In 1985, the Early Childhood and Family Education Program (ECFEP) established a preschool in a Hispanic neighborhood in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This paper discusses the risks for families in this community, and the ways in which these risks can be countered by an empowerment process model. The operation of the preschool is intended to empower…

This collection of five case studies reveals how screening programs for preschool and kindergarten children are currently being implemented in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Programs in a variety of communities--large and small, rural, urban and suburban--are portrayed. The screeners interviewed were chosen in part because they also vary in…

This concept paper presents a model for developing a more unified student-centered system of education to meet all students' educational needs in New York City Public Schools. It is intended to promote thinking and discussion on the educational needs of students with handicapping conditions within the larger general education system. General…

Describes a blending of Glasser's Choice Theory/Reality Therapy with transition and pragmatic language theories to establish a process that speech/language pathologists may use in managing and implementing transition services. A rationale and blended model is provided, and sample Individualized Education Program objectives are given. (Author/CR)

This paper discusses the need for a continuum of services offered within the least restrictive environment, in light of national policy and demographic and fiscal factors. The paper also discusses promising practices in collaboration, new roles for professionals, intervention team models, and emerging trends in service delivery to new populations…