Peer relationships are just as important for students with autism, intellectual disability, and other developmental disabilities. Through their interactions with peers across the school day, students develop new skills, encounter new perspectives, access needed supports, find camaraderie, develop social capital, learn prevailing norms, and elevate…

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…

Describes a staff development framework having four main components: a definition, a mapping sentence, a description of participant roles, and an evaluation perspective. Conditions are discussed for judging the worth of staff development activities, and examples of such activities are analyzed to show how the evaluation perspective is used in…

The first quarter of this textbook on public relations in the public school setting reviews the topic and informs educators about the potential public relations problems and opportunities that could face them in the foreseeable future. An introduction and four chapters cover (1) the history of public relations; (2) the elements of public…

As educators across the nation launch into frenzied efforts to "do something" in response to the various recommendations of commissions on educational excellence, many are forgetting that knowledge of how to implement change is available. This paper focuses on three concerns that educators must face when fitting general recommendations…

These Colorado guidelines explain the purpose of vision screening programs in schools and draw a distinction between screening and a screening program. They outline types of screening to be carried out for students at each grade level. Screening procedures are then described in detail, including: history and external observations, distance visual…

Schools which have successfully implemented mastery learning (ML) programs show many similarities in their plans for ML development. These similarities stand out so strongly that knowledge of them can help all schools in planning for ML. The following program commonalities observed during visits to several schools in New York, Washington,…

The Flint (Michigan) Community Schools developed a four-phase School Improvement process model. In Phase 1 (Commitment), school district and administrative support were obtained and pilot schools were selected (one elementary and one middle school). The principals of these schools and one teacher representative from each received training in…

The literature on the evaluation of curriculum development reveals several characteristics of curriculum planning and implementation processes that are likely to facilitate change. Part 1 of this two-part report presents the results of an analysis of 34 documents, available through the ERIC system, on curricular development. Each of several…

The handbook provides broad guidelines, suggestions, and descriptions of effective mainstreaming practices in New York City Public Schools. An initial section reviews factors related to successful mainstreaming, including effective school environment, strong administrative leadership, and parental involvement. Eight general principles for…

In February 1986, a Dropout Prevention Office was created by the superintendent of the Denver (Colorado) Public Schools to develop a comprehensive approach to address the dropout issue. The Office was also to evaluate existing dropout efforts, and serve as a clearinghouse on dropout programs and information and as an encouragement to partnerships…

A project was undertaken to (1) develop a prototype for installing career education in two regions of the Detroit Public Schools through staff development activities, (2) monitor the involvement level in local schools in these regions, and (3) assist each school on an ongoing basis to plan for effective career education implementation. The first…

Describes a conceptual framework that provides for the principal to be the "school leader" but not the "instructional leader." Defines the principal's primary duties as program planning, implementation, and evaluation. Discusses implications of framework on training and practice. (Author/NEC)

A school district in Nanaimo, British Columbia (Canada) implemented a transdisciplinary team to provide services for students with multiple handicaps. The team comprises a special education teacher, speech/language pathologist, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, and teacher aides. This paper describes team member roles and responsibilities,…

This booklet describes the interrelated and complementary educational roles and duties of the school district superintendent, principal, system media contact person, media coordinator, media specialist, curriculum coordinator, instructional staff, system media committee, building media committee, and the community. The descriptions of each role…