This report summarizes the discussion and recommendations of a symposium which focused on issues addressing the collection, sharing, and use of information to improve transition services and supports to youth and young adults with disabilities. Participants included representatives from state agencies, advocates, family members, and Community…

Multigrade classes have been recognized as part of elementary education for many years, but their special needs have been largely ignored. This manual focuses on the survey research that should predate the design of instructional management strategies in multigrade classrooms. It describes rapid and reliable ways to collect information about the…

This document presents summaries of 28 national data collection programs, to document the amount and nature of information on individuals with disabilities included in the programs. For each program, information provided includes sponsor, purpose, collection cycle, data sources, collection methods, study design, variable domains,…

In 1989, the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) introduced a microcomputer-based evaluation tool called the Collection Analysis CD. In 1993, the SUNY Stony Brook Libraries used this tool to measure its collections against those of 27 Association of Research Libraries (ARL) peer libraries and of a "mythical" peer group. In 1996, the…

The Educational Testing Service is developing a new generation of teacher assessments--the Praxis Series: Professional Assessments for Beginning Teachers. The assessment series consists of three components. An academic skills component will assess the candidate's basic academic and enabling skills. Subject assessments will test the candidate's…

This policy brief examines states' experiences and data regarding implementation of the transition planning mandate of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It reports on a study which investigated whether implementation of transition planning was associated with decreased dropout rates for youth with disabilities and whether the format…

This manual presents 12 guidelines to help teachers of students with mental retardation make more informed decisions about instruction by gathering and using student performance data. Development of the guidelines incorporated both teachers' recommendations and researchers' findings about what procedures work best, and guidelines were tested in…

This descriptive study investigated the numbers of unique and overlap titles in selected elementary schools which may influence resource-sharing decision making. A convenience sample of seven elementary schools in DeKalb County, Georgia, using the Follett Software Company's "Circulation Plus" system was used. Each school printed a shelf list…

This handbook documents the comprehensive evaluation and training system that is being used with Indiana's adult basic education programs. It consists of a set of instruments to assess the effectiveness of ABE programs and a series of workshops to train program providers to carry out the evaluation. Two introductory sections contain a guide to the…

Academic advisement has been found to be inextricably intertwined with student retention, and is acknowledged by faculty instructional load policy at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) as an important part of faculty workload. At UALR, undergraduate advising is a mandatory process, with responsibility shared between faculty and…

This paper offers reasons for using traditional quantitative research methods and illustrates some of the considerations demanding rigor in a study on gender discrimination in school-administrator salaries. Traditional quantitative methods provide a meaningful language based on numbers and objectivity, and they are less time-consuming and complex…

The first section of this guide contains detailed instructions on how to stage a Microscopic Explorations Festival and an overview of learning station activities that can be used during such an event. The main section of this guide provides concise instructions for setting up each of the festival stations. For each station there is an overview,…

This report summarizes a study that analyzed the inclusion of students with disabilities in the accountability systems of 48 state education accountability reports and that of Washington, D.C. Extreme variability was found to exist in the reporting practices across states and there was little information on students with disabilities. Eleven…

This report discusses the findings of a study that analyzed 115 public reports from state accountability offices and state special education offices to investigate how students with disabilities are doing academically and nonacademically. A framework developed by the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) was used to organize results.…

This report discusses the performance of students with disabilities on the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS) on-demand assessments. These assessments, which consist of constructed response or essay-like questions over the period of 1992-93 through 1995-96, are part of the regular KIRIS assessment, which also includes…