Many schools have increased their use of paraprofessionals as a primary mechanism to include more students with various disabilities in general education classes. Although intended to be supportive, service delivery that relies extensively on paraprofessionals has resulted in a host of challenges for public schools and questionable services for…

In 2007, the Local Government Association (LGA) commissioned the NFER to review the best evidence on what works in narrowing the gap in outcomes for vulnerable groups across the five Every Child Matters areas. The review aimed to underpin the Narrowing the Gap Programme, a major development programme being implemented by the LGA and the DCSF. …

This paper reviews and analyzes the research in rural education in Australia in recent decades. Research undertaken in other countries is examined where comparisons, differences, or explanations are useful in understanding the Australian context. Following an introduction to the Australian education system and summaries of demographic features of…

This guide is intended for education and training suppliers, manufacturing extension programs/centers, economic development institutions, and other service providers involved in helping companies become more productive. It explains how to organize and support learning consortia consisting of companies that have come together to develop new…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of Montana's 1992-1995 Services for Deaf-Blind Children and Youth program funded under Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The project focused on provision of technical assistance to parents, programs, and agencies (public and private) serving children with…

This paper presents initial results of research on a distance education program developed in 1989 for the children of the Showmen's Guild of Australasia. The program accommodates the mobility of children and their parents who are rarely in any town for more than a week during the show circuit. The children complete correspondence lessons in…

This report describes a research project that studied: the speech and language needs of Scottish children and young people with special educational needs, collaboration among parents and professionals, and the perceived effectiveness of different ways of providing speech and language therapy. Data were obtained from a series of mailed…

This proceedings contains 13 papers on the role of distance education in sustainable community development, particularly in Canada's remote northern communities. Four sections cover theoretical issues such as the meaning of "community" in international distance programs and the influence of students' immediate community on their survival…

This study examines issues concerning inclusion in Canadian postsecondary education, especially educational programming and practices that enable adults with intellectual disabilities to participate and learn in regular classes in community colleges or vocational training colleges. The book first frames education as a human right and then explores…

This book presents a design for initiating, implementing, and institutionalizing a consultation-based service delivery system in school settings, based on the Instructional Consultation Teams (IC-Teams) model. It brings together the literature on school consultation and school change, for practitioners in general and special education and in…

This review of special education worldwide is based on questionnaire replies of appropriate ministries in 63 United Nations member states during 1993-94. Part 1 provides a summary and analysis of the information received and highlights trends, comparing situations reported in the previous survey (1986-87) with the present survey. This section…

This report describes the outcomes of research that investigated school reform, school-linked services, parent involvement, and community school programs in schools in 36 states. Results found that services were often added on to school sites without any intent to integrate them with school reform; teachers were not directly involved in services;…

A project examined effective methods of delivering education and training to the residents of rural Australia through a literature review and five interview case studies of formal and nonformal training. Findings with regard to access were as follows: potential participants must be aware that the program exists and is for them; the program must be…

This paper reports on a study evaluating a graduate-level distance education program that provides special education teacher preparation at rural sites throughout Utah. The program was developed by the University of Utah to address problems associated with teacher recruitment and retention in rural areas. The program uses an "integrated"…

Of the 19 projects conducted as part of the Defense Conversion Adjustment (DCA) Demonstration administered by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Work-Based Learning, 5 tested the community planning approach. The projects attempted to alleviate the negative impacts of defense cutbacks on communities, firms, and workers. The project sites…