"A Guide to Best Practice in Special Education, Health and Social Care" explores and explains the changes in governmental policies across the education, health and social care services, and what they mean for young individuals, parents and professionals. In a period of significant change, many practitioners need to understand the…

Implementation is making, and acting on, evidence-informed decisions. Yet awareness of evidence does not necessarily result in improved outcomes: implementation is critical for turning engagement with research into tangible changes in school practices and pupil outcomes, including, crucially, for pupils experiencing socio-economic disadvantage.…

Early educators are the best spokespeople about the conditions under which they work and what they need in order to thrive. Policy leaders have much to gain by actively engaging educators in identifying workable solutions to the child care crisis. The Center for the Study of Child Care Employment (CSCCE) believes that educators have the right to…

In an effort to meet the needs of adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) while hospitalized, a team of experts and providers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), MGH for Children as well as parents of individuals with ASD was sparked in 2013. This became a multidisciplinary collaborative, the MGH Autism Care Collaborative, to improve…

Beginning teachers face significant challenges as they assume the complex work of teaching while they are still learning to teach. In addition to the activities involved with learning to effectively teach, they must also learn to work with others; collaborate with colleagues, administrators, paraprofessionals, and parents; and manage varied…

In May 2010, the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR) at Georgetown University released the monograph "Addressing the Unmet Educational Needs of Children and Youth in the Juvenile Justice and Child Welfare Systems" (Leone & Weinberg, 2010). The monograph examined a number of topics relevant to the education and experiences of…

The paper discusses the transdisciplinary model, an alternative approach for meeting the needs of children in early education programs for the handicapped. A brief review of the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches to providing services for such children is provided, and the limitations of the two approaches are examined. The…

The primary assumption behind the development of this guide is that program managers, faced with the responsibility of designing and planning an educational program, or modifying an existing resource system, might profit from a better understanding of the nature of needs assessment. The first section of this guide presents an overview of needs…

Activities that describe a teacher's work are identified, and an examination of these activities leads to descriptions of the kind of computer support that would be useful to teachers in these areas. The material is designed to simplify the task of convincing administrators and others of the needs for computers. (MP)

Treatment Improvement Protocols (TIPs) are developed by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), part of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Each TIP involves the development of topic-specific best-practice guidelines for the prevention and…

This manual describes a systematic process for conducting an educational needs assessment at the building level which includes suggestions for the formation of an advisory group and the use of two Likert Scale surveys. The advisory group is composed of parents, students, and educators; this group carries out the tasks of understanding, planning,…

The issue presents three articles on autism. The first, "Autism--A Professional Challenge" by Carl Smith, introduces the other two articles and very briefly defines autism as "severe communication and behavior disorders that become manifest during the early stages of childhood development and that are characterized by a severely…

The directory is intended to aid patients and their families who are coping with the genetic disorder of Cooley's anemia. A brief review of the disease covers background, genetics, symptoms, effect on the patient, treatment, and current research. The next section looks at psychosocial needs at various times (time of diagnosis, infancy and toddler…

This publication is designed to provide a practical guide for gaining a detailed awareness and understanding of homelessness. After a foreword by Jesse Jackson, these chapters are included: (1) Introduction: Assessing the Unique Needs of Homeless People (Clemmie Solomon), which discusses the need for helping professionals to commit to addressing…

The culmination of an 18-month effort, this special report is aimed at improving communications and relationships between foundations and Hispanics by fostering skillful and sensitive grantmaking and focusing attention on underserved Hispanic populations. Presented in journalistic form, the report contains an introductory section; 51 articles; an…