A rural Maine school system interviewed 10 administrators and 26 special-education teachers, technicians, and related service personnel as part of an analysis of its special-education services. Findings indicated a lack of a clear mission, limited administrative supervision, inconsistent prereferral procedures, increasing numbers of…

Maine's gubernatorially appointed Commission on Secondary Education produced eight overarching observations and six core principles governing learning climate, teacher expectations, differentiated instruction, assessment, democratic engagement, and program coherency. This new vision challenges schools and communities to rethink how they assess,…

The history of distance education, traditionally a peripheral university activity, is chronicled, beginning with the advent of the British Open University and through developments in technology that are rapidly blurring the distinction between traditional and distance education. Distance-learning techniques are described that will change students'…

Systems of care (SOCs) have been developed throughout the country to meet the needs of children with severe emotional disturbances (SED) and their families. In these SOCs, multiple agencies and disciplines are expected to work together with informal community supports to address families' needs (Stroul & Friedman, 1986a). A review of the…

This study describes the meaning of program quality for a representative group of parents of children enrolled in public prekindergarten programs. Educators often conceptualized quality in terms of structural or process indicators; parents most often cited teacher experience and relationship to children. Families, like educators, emphasized…

The Information technology (IT) leader within higher education can be viewed from three scenarios: (1) the IT leader as plumber; (2) the IT leader as gardener; and (3) the IT leader as alchemist. In the first scenario, the college or university network consists of pipes, and the role of the IT leader resembles that of a plumber, who keeps the…

District and building-level administrators are often responsible for the hiring and supervising of related services personnel. Thus, a deeper understanding of the personnel issues that exist in the related services disciplines becomes important. What we know about the supply and demand, professional preparation, and certification and licensure of…

Changing your Learning Management System (LMS) presents challenges not only to instructional faculty, but also to the students who depend on these systems to completely deliver or support their courses. In assessing the transition for students experiencing an upgrade in the campus LMS, a number of findings have real implications for developing a…

Ticket to Work and Self-Sufficiency program (TTW) was designed to enhance the market for services that help disability beneficiaries become economically self-sufficient by providing beneficiaries with a wide range of choices for obtaining services and to give employment-support service providers new financial incentives to serve beneficiaries…

The research literature on online learning has grown significantly in the past decade. Many studies have been published that examine the extent, nature, policies, learning outcomes, and other issues associated with online instruction. While much of this literature focuses specifically on postsecondary education with approximately three million…

Since its establishment in the 1860s, Washington's higher education system has evolved rapidly to meet a myriad of state needs in fields as diverse as agriculture, bioscience, chemistry, environmental sciences, engineering, medicine, law, business, computer science, and architecture. Today, higher education, like other vital state functions, faces…

This report describes achievements of a Linn County (Oregon) project to design, implement, and evaluate a county-wide comprehensive interagency model for achieving improved outcomes for children with or at risk of developing emotional/behavioral disabilities. The project stressed systems change, driven by full parent participation and interagency…

This report describes activities and accomplishments of the New York Partnership for Statewide Systems Change Project, a 5-year project to increase and improve inclusive educational services to New York State students with severe disabilities. The project provided inservice training, technical assistance, and model demonstration and evaluation…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of the New Jersey Technical Assistance Project, a project to improve educational resources and support services for students with multiple sensory impairment (deaf-blindness). Activities and accomplishments are presented in a tabular format for each project goal and objective. The project…

The 5-year New Hampshire Statewide Systems Change Project has provided training and technical assistance to educators, families, and communities to effectively implement the full inclusion of students with disabilities in New Hampshire schools and communities. This guide was developed to disseminate successful strategies for starting the process…