This proceedings contains 60 conference papers that address critical issues related to rural education, special education, teacher training, school reform, and services for students who are at risk. The conference theme of rural partnerships recognizes the diversity of the ACRES membership and the need for developing and maintaining successful…

This study examined schools which had successfully blended gifted education programs into middle school environments in order to provide outstanding services to gifted middle grades students, and sought to determine the factors that made this successful blending possible. Five sites were visited from a variety of settings and schools that used…

Training issues can be examined from at least two perspectives: the structural level (macro-level) and the micro-level. Structural issues in the delivery of training include the following: absent or uneven corporate commitment, inadequate expenditures by businesses, degrees awarded by schools that do not guarantee skill mastery, poaching of…

This study surveyed 7 special education teachers, 30 regular education teachers (a 46% response), and 32 parents of special education students (also a 46% response) in a rural Ohio school district about their attitudes towards experimental models for special education service delivery. The school district serves 1,232 students, with approximately…

In September 1990, the Commission on Work Force Excellence was established to increase Mississippi's economic competitiveness and improve worker opportunities. The commission sponsored an evaluation of the diverse enterprise of the state's secondary and postsecondary vocational education system. Eight findings resulted from the study. First, the…

The Subcommittee on Health and the Environment met to receive testimony on federal health professions programs authorized by Titles VII and VIII of the Public Health Service Act. These programs are slated for repeal by the Bush Administration in 1992. In particular the subcommittee heard testimony on the subject of critical shortages in training…

This resource guide helps state and local administrators of vocational special needs programs, special needs educators, counselors, researchers, and policymakers serving rural youth and adults to locate resources. Resources cited in this guide are publications; newsletters; journals; special issues of journals; agencies, associations, and…

The handbook provides rural school administrators and teachers with information concerning a vocational service delivery model for mentally retarded, learning disabled, and behaviorally impaired youth in Nebraska. The handbook describes the program's background, goals, implementation, and development. It also describes the central role of…

The Pell Grant Quality Control Study of 1982-83 was designed to identify program error rate, to measure the impact of increased validation activity, and to propose corrective actions to reduce the misallocation of program funds. A sample of approximately 4,000 students drawn from a sample of 317 participating institutions showed that Pell Grant…

This article examines the training needs of educators working in the further education (FE), adult education, and Second Chance sectors in the Republic of Ireland. The research on which it is based was funded jointly by the European Union Leonardo da Vinci Programme and the Department of Education and Science of Ireland and took place from 1998 to…

The proceedings include, after the keynote address by E.M. Childers and the conference agenda, the following papers: "An Additional Handicap: Visual Perceptual Learning Disabilities of Deaf Children" (Vivienne Ratner); "Minimum Competency Testing" (Carl Williams); "Transitional Planning for Hearing Impaired Students in the Mainstream" (Helen…

A study was conducted to examine the delivery of off-campus and out-of-district instruction in Missouri during fiscal year (FY) 1988. For the purposes of the study, "off-campus" referred to those courses offered by a four-year college at a location other than its principal campus, and "out-of-district" referred to courses…

Postsecondary instructional dynamics is a complex process in which inputs (student characteristics and expectations, resources, and faculty characteristics and preparation) are converted through the educational process (instruction strategies, models, and techniques as well as supportive services) into outputs (outcomes and benefits of instruction…

Texts of speeches delivered before general sessions and abstracts of papers presented in concurrent sessions are collected in this document which also contains the conference program, a directory of presenters, and the 13 conference cosponsors' recommendations for enhancing the quality of rural and small school education. The six addresses to the…

A study ascertained the perceptions that affect coordination between Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) and vocational education. Questionnaires were completed by 184 individuals representing JTPA staff from service delivery areas (SDAs), vocational education staff from regional delivery systems (RDSs), community college staff, and state agency…