The authors describe the Job Training and Tryout model of school-to-work transition for disabled individuals. The four phases include (1) utilizing previous assessment data and developing individualized employment success plans, (2) employability skills training, (3) job placement, and (4) job change or advancement. (CH)

The success of Asian-American students has created a "model minority" stereotype of "grade grinds" geared to outperform their native-born peers. However, Asians are from diverse countries and economic backgrounds. Many experience problems with parent and teacher expectations, leave school early, or face hostility from other students and…

Reports on China's State Education Commission job placement experiment designed to place college graduates. Provides direct quotations from students to indicate student acceptance of or opposition to the program. Suggests that, while competition ensures success for the best students, sex discrimination and use of family connections are still…

Adults (N=153) with mild mental retardation attending a transitional vocational program were evaluated based upon the multiaxial criteria of the American Psychiatric Association's "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual." Fifty-three percent were diagnosed as meeting Axis I criteria, and 17.6 percent met criteria for an Axis II diagnosis, involving…

The 1987 survey of 57 residential schools for the deaf found that the varying state interpretations of Least Restrictive Environment under Public Law 94-142 are a major determining factor in the role played by the residential school. Survey results were compared to a similar 1977 survey. (DB)

The study compared teachers' ratings of the mathematics achievement of severely to profoundly hearing impaired Israeli students in special schools, special classes, and mainstream placement. When variables related to communication skills and intellectual potential were controlled, teacher ratings of student mathematical achievement was lower for…

The funded Access to Employment project was given three years to demonstrate effective bridges between private sector employers and qualified college students and graduates with disabilities. The program offers workshops that address communication and attitudinal issues. Future plans and criteria for evaluating project effectiveness are also…

Forty-nine job developers were interviewed to identify the techniques and approaches used in successful job development for individuals with developmental disabilities. The interviews addressed such topics as the source and number of employer contacts, "opening lines" to employers, mention of disability, negotiations, interviews with job seekers,…

One schedule innovation--the four-period day and semester-length courses--is revamping North Carolina and Virginia high schools. At Orange County (Virginia) High School, a simplified and flexible 4-year 9-13 semester-block program is helping kids complete more courses, receive better grades, and take and pass more advanced-placement exams. (MLH)

Examines tracking's effects on end-of-year 10th-grade mathematics achievement for a sample of over 3,900 public school students, using 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study data. Although there is clearly a case for detracking on equity grounds, students currently in uppertrack classes may suffer major losses in achievement test scores. (26…

This commentary on Erb's (1995) article on institutionalization of individuals with severe impairments identifies several points of disagreement, including the appropriateness of placement of such individuals in large institutions, the financial cost of community supportive living, and whether individual needs can best be served in institutions or…

This commentary on Erb's (1995) article on institutionalization argues that living in one's home community is better than being forced to leave it to obtain needed services. The commentary also criticizes the assertion that supported living programs funded through Medicaid waiver are not cost-effective compared to traditional institutional or…

Robert Erb responds to commentaries to his paper on institutional placement for individuals with severe disabilities and the costs of community and institutional placements. Risk-and-benefit issues, in addition to cost-and-benefit ones, are addressed. (SW)

Three procedures for the detection of differential item functioning under item response theory were compared. Data for 2 forms of a mathematics test taken by 1,490 college students were analyzed through F. M. Lord's chi-square, N. S. Raju's area measures, and the likelihood ratio test. (SLD)

Examines the not entirely positive effect of Britain's Adoption Law Review on the good practice developed in some social agencies around the placement needs of black children. (HTH)