The article describes an alternative approach to team training in special education which emphasizes transactional and ecological perspectives. Components, problems, and eight-year evaluation data on the approach are discussed. (CL)

This article reviews various theories for difficulties in socioemotional functioning experienced by many deaf persons. It then proposes a 3-level model which focuses on: (1) intrapsychic processes such as self-concept; (2) reciprocal interactions between the person and the social environment; and (3) resulting memories and expectancies that affect…

This article examines various forms of communication systems for their "partner friendliness" and presents a model of different types of communication partners and their communication needs. Case examples illustrate how the forms of communication of two students who are deaf-blind were expanded to promote greater communication with a variety of…

The introduction to this special issue on interactive assessment and special needs children draws a distinction between the term "interactive assessment" and the more limited "dynamic assessment," and comments that the six papers comprising this issue focus on dynamic assessment, in which there is actual teaching of cognitive…

Challenges current practices in language evaluation for school-aged children with significant hearing loss. It argues for an interactive approach to assessment and offers specific recommendations for the interpretation of test results. Application of current connectionist and competition theories of language acquisition suggests the concept of…

The evaluation of school psychological services is a responsibility and an opportunity too long ignored. This paper describes and presents examples of five data collection devices which can be used in the evaluation effort: the vignette-based questionnaire, the role-model questionnaire, the services received questionnaire, the teacher interview,…

Disciplinary didactics describes and designs the actualized/virtual learning and teaching relationships among disciplinary content, learner(s), and teacher. This article adopts a semiotic perspective to outline eight shared features of the various disciplinary didactics. The goal is to situate them within an integrated vision that helps shape a…

This article focuses on one element of staff development, and applies to classroom observation an interactive process between staff developer and teacher that leads to a better understanding and acceptance of individual teaching styles. The emphasis is on professional growth rather than on institutional regulation. (Author/KC)

Issues that underlie the development of measurement systems to evaluate the social effects of supported education for disabled students are discussed. An assessment model which examines both outcome (i.e., increased acceptance, social participation, and levels of friendships) and process variables (e.g., specific social interaction skills) is…

Although the functional relationship between school board and superintendent is a critical connection that stands at the apex of the organizational pyramid in education, little is known about that linkage, other than the tension endemic to the relationship. This study therefore examines how superintendents and school boards interact and inquires…

One of 52 theoretical papers on school crime and its relation to poverty, this chapter is an attempt to adopt a social network model to describe linkages between the school and socialization organizations within a community, and, from this view of the social structure, to develop strategies that will promote more arrangements that are better able…

Over a period of three years, the National Consortium for Humanizing Education worked with teachers and students in two states to test hypotheses drawn from a model in which student outcomes (including good mental health) were seen as the results of a learning process occurring between individuals rather than as the product of an institutionalized…

Management processes of planning, organizing, directing, and motivating are vital to schools and industries alike. Accordingly, this module, the first in a series of two, has been developed as a training guide using the Hersey-Blanchard approach to leadership styles. It can help build principal-faculty relationships, superintendent-governing board…

A model of social skills in childhood and adolescence using the concepts and literature on symbolic interactionism is proposed. Its components (role-taking, role-making, definition of situation, and self) and their potential contributions to social skills analysis are discussed. An application to friendship making and possible model limitations…

This monograph describes the curriculum and teaching methods used to teach socialization skills at the Boys Town (Nebraska) special residential school for boys with behavioral disorders as well as replications of the Boys Town model in other locations. The model takes the basic techniques of the schools's Family/Home model and applies them to…