In the South African context, children with severe to profound intellectual disabilities are not accommodated in the compulsory education system, although steps are being taken in this direction in acknowledgement of their right to education. Critical to this development is the training of educators and caregivers. There is a paucity of studies…

Arts Health Antigonish! (AHA!) is a not-for-profit community organization whose mandate is to foster creative expression for community health and well-being (www. artshealthantigonish.org). Over a four-year period, AHA! programs have engaged approximately 20 local artists and over 2,000 community members through poetry, visual arts, dance and…

Significant research has been conducted on skills' enhancement school programs, since their importance has been well established. The presented study evaluates "Steps for life", a Greek, universal, annual, teacher-taught programme, designed to improve personal and social skills in young elementary students by the use of questions,…

This paper provides an informed and critical understanding of the concept of self-esteem. It explores this psychological construct in relation to its use in adventure education and outdoor learning. Enhancing a participant's self-esteem is perceived to be fundamentally a good thing and is culturally linked to the Hahnian notion that implies…

Group counseling has been highlighted as one effective intervention for at-risk students, yet debate remains as to the comparable efficacy of traditional interventions versus thematic interventions. This study compared two psychosocial educational programs, the PEGS and ARK Programs, designed to help elementary school students with social skills…

A 50 hour self-development approach to drug education which included values clarification, empathy training, drug information, with considerable peer interaction was evaluated by means of a true experiment. No differences were found between treatment and no-treatment groups in terms of drug usage, drug knowledge, and self-esteem. (Author)

Recently, the systematic skills approach has been applied to the training of foster parents. A systematic skills training program for foster mothers was evaluated to investigate the relationship between skills training and the outcome of the placement for the child. The sample consisted of inner-city, lower socio-economic minority foster mothers…

A structured, personal-adjustment training program relying on verbal, braille, and motor modes of presentation was developed and evaluated. Analyses of pre-and postchanges indicated that the experimental clients increased significantly in self-esteem and tended to make greater progress in goal attainment. (Author)

Programs that teach rehabilitation clients Personal Achievement Skills (PAS) were evaluated in regard to their use of group counseling techniques. Subjects were 43 young adult general rehabilitation clients who had completed an experimental training program in work adjustment. Clients were referred to the program for several reasons: deficiencies…

A study conducted a nationwide evaluation of 15 residential camp programs designed for children, youth, and young adults with mild to severe disabilities. The study involved 2,184 campers (ages 7-19) with disabilities and was undertaken to further validate evaluation instrumentation, evaluate residential camp programs for children with…

A differentiated staffing model involving the use of adult educational assistants to work with the kindergarten teacher and children within the classroom was utilized as the experimental concept for an Early Childhood project funded under Title I of the 1965 Elementary Secondary Education Act in the 1970-71 school year. The primary purpose of the…

The Title I (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) 1971 Summer Camp Project of the Atlanta Public Schools offered to a group of 427 seventh-, eighth-, and ninth-grade boys and girls of 5 1/2-day camping experience. Camp activities were directed at an attempt to integrate the children's knowledge of the outdoors with actual experience in nature…

This article describes a 10-week experimental class in painting for older adults at a Jewish Community Service Center. The rationale for offering a painting course is presented and the community center facilities are described in detail. The demographics of the 19 relatively isolated, shy persons aged 65-84 who met for 2-hour weekly sessions are…

The Northland Wilderness Experience (NWE) was established in 1985 to provide outdoor therapeutic programs for at-risk youth from the Northland region of New Zealand. The program involved a physically challenging 10-day expedition, followed by an 18-month followup period of group outdoor activities offered every 2 weeks. By the end of 1989, 280…

Success Connection was an 18-month program aimed at promoting self-sufficiency among high-risk youth ages 16-22 in Yakima Valley, Washington. Self-sufficiency was defined as being employed, having improved educational goals, and not requiring public assistance. The program was a collaborative effort among the Yakima Valley Opportunities…