Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) has been at the forefront of integrating art therapy in schools since 1979, helping children with emotional/behavioral disabilities become more receptive to academic involvement while maximizing their social and emotional potential. This article describes the history, development, current configuration,…

The latest installment of the Fordham Institute's "Creating Sound Policy for Digital Learning" series investigates one of the more controversial aspects of digital learning: How much does it cost? In this paper, the Parthenon Group uses interviews with more than fifty vendors and online-schooling experts to estimate today's average…

Will the digital-learning movement repeat the mistakes of the charter-school movement? How much more successful might today's charter universe look if yesterday's proponents had focused on the policies and practices needed to ensure its quality, freedom, and resources over the long term? What mistakes might have been avoided? Damaging scandals…

The effect of teacher efficacy on student learning, teacher expectation, classroom management, and decision making are just a few of the well-established relationships documented in the literature. Not as clear, however, is the relative influence of cultural receptivity--the degree of which teachers are open to cultural diversity--on the referral…

Response to Intervention (RTI), as a model for improving services to all students, has been a growing phenomenon since the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 2004. The National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) defines RTI as "the practice of (1) providing high-quality…

This qualitative study explored school social workers' relationships during instances of abuse and neglect reporting, focusing on reports made for children and adolescents already receiving school social work services. Although school social workers frequently file abuse and neglect reports, little is known about how they manage clinical and…

A plan was developed to evaluate the organizational interchanges between local school districts and community mental health centers. The objective was to identify and describe the organizational interchanges, to assess interface satisfaction, and to identify innovative planning, program, or administrative linkages for potential replication. Data…

According to the 2000 census, high school dropouts had a 52% employment rate, compared to 71% for high school graduates and 83% for college graduates. According to NCSE, the national dropout rate is 30% of which 80% had been chronically absent from school ("School attendance tracking: Challenges and effective practices"), which puts the…

This paper is intended to clarify for Florida school districts the nature of psychological services as a related service under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Florida law. Following a brief section on the legal meaning of "related services" and "special education services" the paper offers eight questions…

This index is a compilation of school health policies and concepts recommended by Florida's School Health Medical Advisory Committee from 1958 through May, 1972. The goal of school health programs K-12 is to reflect sound health and educational practices designed to protect, maintain, and improve the health of the school child. Each of these…

This study reports students' perceptions of their school's curriculum, support services, attendance policies, and social-learning climate. The study analyzed the interview responses of a sample of 236 students, administrators, teachers, and counselors at 6 Florida high schools representing a range of graduation rates. The following general…

The document provides the guidelines issued by the Florida State Commissioner of Education for school districts to use in implementing mandatory job placement services and followup studies. This comprehensive program includes all students, begins when students enter secondary or postsecondary educational programs, and continues until students are…

Developed for use in an inservice workshop for occupational specialists in two Florida counties, this manual presents strategies for publicizing the activities of occupational specialists to gain continued public support for their role in school guidance and placement services. A public information program is outlined in the form of specific…

This paper profiles an educational reform program targeting academically and socially at-risk and underachieving students. The project began as a district-wide training program for school psychologists, guidance counselors, social workers, and elementary-level instructional consultants. The program focuses on helping schools to plan for and…

This document contains vocational education program courses standards for exploratory courses, practical arts courses, and job preparatory programs offered at the secondary or postsecondary level as a part of Florida's comprehensive vocational education program. Instructional Support Services provide an opportunity for handicapped or disadvantaged…