Presented are objectives for a continuing education program designed to meet the needs of foster parents. The author suggests that university programs that use an interdisciplinary approach and capitalize on university-community resources can design successful parenting programs for foster parents. (KC)

Literature shows students often take a problem to a friend or relative rather than the counseling center, particularly a personal problem. Research on effective publicizing of counseling services needs to be done. (JAC)

A distant-learning format that provides courses for students who are geographically or financially unable to commute to traditional campuses involves taped lectures, class meetings, and evaluations as well as course texts and study guides. (JMF)

The author identifies eight areas of concern in gifted/talented education. (CL)

Describes the Southwest Denver Community Mental Health Center, an innovative program with documented success in keeping chronic psychiatrically disabled clients out of the hospital. Future merging of rehabilitation and mental health systems could further benefit the people of southwest Denver. (Author)

The same standards of due care and informed consent apply to services provided by a practicum agency in spite of the unique nature of such a setting. Counselor trainees and their supervisors must be aware of relevant legal standards and demonstrate their adoption throughout the training process. (Author)

Federal and state laws require agencies to scrutinize their confidentiality and record-keeping policies. Suggestions for bringing these policies into accord with the new legal context are presented. These will improve worker-client relationships and service delivery and protect the legal and ethical rights of clients to privacy. (Author/BEF)

Community care-givers can be identified by social service agencies through their visibility in helping others in the community. Professionals must be aware of community needs through the continued identification of indigenous care-givers and the integration of these helpers into the service delivery system. (Author)

Extension personnel must learn how to use computer technology to provide information for decision making, to store and retrieve publications and information quickly and accurately, and to help people learn new things. The author suggests possible applications of computer technology to program needs in the extension service. (MF)

Two ongoing projects illustrate alternative delivery systems for translating educational theory into action. The curriculum classification system focuses on organizing the learning environment for personalizing and individualizing instruction. The second system explores the relation of thinking skills to academic performance and stresses the…

School psychologists and elementary school teachers were shown videotapes of a psychologist consulting with a teacher, with the psychologist using either behavioral or mental health consultation techniques. In general, teachers preferred behavioral consultation, while psychologists rated the mental health consultation as more effective. (Author)

Summarizes a study of several types of consulting groups in the Bell System and describes characteristics which are associated with high-impact consulting. A strategy which is designed for internal consulting organizations to maximize the likelihood of both initial success and long-term survival of the group is proposed. (Author/MER)

Contemporary standards of professional practice and recent educational compliance legislation emphasize the delivery of appropriate school psychological services geared to a range of school-age children with special needs. These guidelines are set forth so that school psychologists might consider them and adapt them to local circumstances. (Author)

An organizational, domain-referenced approach to evaluation of public-school special-service delivery systems is offered. The framework focuses on the process of service delivery and is seen as useful to the improvement of service delivery within the context of Public Law 94-142. (Author)

Without program access to education, leadership and vocational opportunities will be denied to handicapped individuals. Faculty members must become aware and competent in instructing and guiding handicapped students. Few institutions have established roles for facilitators of faculty involvement with the handicapped. (Author/JAC)