While professional development is a requirement for all educators, many teachers have a negative opinion of PD. Districts have attempted to use professional learning communities and the presence of instructional coaches as an answer to the concerns of irrelevant professional development. This study examined educators' opinions of an opt-in…

Little is known about how the expansion of state pre-kindergarten (pre-k) programs affects low-income children with disabilities in Head Start. Using almost 30 years of administrative data of all Head Start programs and a differences-in-differences design, this study tests the possibility that, as state pre-k differentially draws relatively more…

Existing approaches for training paraeducators rely heavily on intensive one-to-one coaching and may not be feasible in practice. In this study, we test a tiered training model in which all paraeducators first received group training, and then coaching was provided only for the subset who did not meet performance criteria after group training.…

The price of not being English proficient in the United States is costly. A study using 2000 census data showed that people who were not English proficient experienced lower earnings than those who spoke only English (Community and Regional Development Estate, 2005). The cost of being a non-proficient English speaker has the potential to decrease…

Alternative Individualized Education Program (IEP) dispute resolution models should respond to limitations of current options. An experimental IEP dispute resolution program provides parents and schools with an evidence-supported neutral perspective on what is needed for free and appropriate education (FAPE) and least restrictive environment…

Recently, consensus among researchers and professionals has emerged about factors that contribute to postschool success of youth with disabilities. Prominent among these factors are targeted academic preparation, family involvement, youth empowerment, and service collaboration and linkages. Work experience and paid employment have been identified…

A systematic approach to curriculum development for students with severe disabilities enrolled in extended school year programs is described. The approach is community driven, consistent with student Individualized Education Program objectives, tailored to the individual student, and teaches functional skills performed by individuals without…

The Families Involved in Schools and Community (FISC) Project was a federally funded project to develop and demonstrate the use of a model Individualized Family Service Plan process for young children with challenging needs and their families. The model emphasizes an individualized family systems perspective, informal nonintrusive assessment and…

A teacher training model designed to provide teachers with skills to successfully implement individualized programing in at least one academic area at the end of a 6 month instructional period was instigated with 17 second grade teachers. (SBH)

An in-service model for mainstreaming mildly handicapped children is described which combines competitive, accommodative, and problem solving approaches. (CL)

A family-focused intervention model was implemented with 16 families having young children (birth to 3 years) with moderate or severe disabilities. Individualized Family Service Plans were formulated and implemented, resulting in high levels of parental satisfaction, accelerated rates of progress by the children, and acquisition of functional…

The paper describes a 5-year longitudinal study of a Texas school district's implementation of an individualized mainstream special education program. "Plan A" program activities and outcomes are reported for five phases (sample subtopics in parentheses): initiation in one high school, one junior high school and eight elementary schools…

The purpose of this study was to determine the degree of relationship between the effectiveness of the Instruction and Research Unit in the areas of instructional program (reading and mathematics), organizational operations (procedural and substantive), school-community relations, and staff development to several measures of student affective…

Black Hawk College's Study Unlimited cooperative program with the River Bend Library System, established in 1972, is presented as a model for community college and public library cooperation in offering off-campus instructional opportunities to new student populations by breaking time and place access barriers. Study Unlimited's objectives are to…

The case studies contained in this document were developed as part of a national project to identify communities that have made substantial progress toward developing comprehensive, coordinated, community-based systems of care for children and adolescents with serious emotional disturbances and their families. After initial identification,…