The Children's Program Outcome Review Team (CPORT), under the direction of the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth, collects and analyzes data to improve service delivery to children and families involved in state custody. Using the Quality Service Review methodology, the Commission conducted 282 intensive case reviews on a random sample of…

Summaries of four papers and a discussion presented at a symposium on expanding the research base of systems of care for children's mental health examine school-wide systems of positive behavioral support and provide data on a three-tiered Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) program for improving mental health functioning of…

"Place-based assistance" is not a new concept. Asking what people want and finding ways to give it to them sounds simplistic, but it can result in "win-win" solutions in which everyone involved benefits. This document is a guide to using networking and surveys of residents to determine community needs. Some case studies show…

This study used high-profile research on a school district to construct a case study of how a political context that presents urban schools as unsalvageable has also resulted in a research stripped of critique. The study compared published reports about district (District 2) accomplishments to data on school achievement and school demographics on…

This document presents standards for educational accountability systems that represent models of practice derived from three perspectives: research knowledge, practical experience, and ethical considerations. These standards should be conceived of as targets for state and local systems and as criteria to judge proposed models of accountability…

The New York State Council on Children and Families is charged with acting as a neutral body to coordinate the 13 health, education, and human services agencies within the state to promote children and families' well-being. The Council uses the Touchstone accountability framework to facilitate the development of state and local service systems…

This report synthesizes information from public record documents and comments from Early/Head Start program directors and activities from the Illinois Head Start Collaboration Office. Data were obtained from more than 101 mail survey responses from early childhood providers, 38 phone narrative/anecdotal surveys, more than 50 telephone surveys, and…

This brief paper examines issues in service delivery and collaborative partnerships in light of requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendments of 1997 and the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, both of which emphasize the importance of providing access to the general curriculum for students with disabilities and…

Noting the potential of family support as an effective agent for change, this essay explores family support as community-based services to promote the well-being of children and families designed to increase the strength and stability of families, to increase parents' confidence and competence in their parenting abilities, to afford children a…

This report compares the Social Security Administration's Disability Insurance (DI) program and the practices of the private sector and other countries in helping people with severe disabilities return to work. Information was gathered in in-depth interviews and a review of policy documents and program data at three private sector disability…

This paper describes services provided to students with language disorders (grades K-12) in the Catholic Diocese of Parramatta (New South Wales, Australia). The Communication Program has provided itinerant services of communication specialists (speech pathologists and itinerant teachers) to more than 1,100 students with language disorders.…

This manual is a guide to the use of assistive technology with Iowa students who have disabilities. Section 1 offers legal definitions and examples of assistive technology and is followed by a section that considers how assistive technology helps students by providing examples of assistive technology in the general education curriculum. Section 3…

To illustrate the principles and conflicts inherent in ensuring the self-determination of individuals with disabilities, this paper discusses the challenges faced by the parents of Shari, an adult with developmental disabilities. Throughout Sheri's 30 years, her parents have sought to create the kind of supports and opportunities that will put…

This monograph presents the "Shared Responsibility Framework of Social Interaction for Collective Investment," which offers a perspective on social interaction in the process of change. The framework attempts to integrate the dynamic features of educational reform by attending to components linked with personal and collective investment in reform…

Prominent among the new models of social service delivery are organizations providing comprehensive, community-based supports and services (CCBSS) to children and their families. A needs analysis explored CCBSS sites' interest in and readiness to use a software tool designed to help them make more effective internal resource allocation decisions…