Placement of children in state custody with their relatives has grown dramatically. Interviews with caseworkers serving children in kinship foster care were studied and revealed the complex nature of this practice and identified potential obstacles to permanency for these children. Results suggest practice principles that may facilitate permanency…

This article describes a comprehensive transition program for students with mild disabilities. The program revolves around a classroom-based employability skills curriculum taught over a semester's duration. Four program components are addressed: employability skills training, family involvement, adult agency referral, and on-the-job support. (CR)

Describes programs used by universities to help their alumni find jobs. Some of the tactics used by the schools include career seminars, career development classes, electronic services, job fairs, career placement, career counseling, and resume services. Also includes ten steps for designing successful seminars. (RJM)

Overviews the most recently published or revised version of North American second-year Italian textbooks. Notes that each of the six textbooks reviewed provides sound pedagogical materials designed to enhance instruction. (55 references) (CK)

This article summarizes trends indicating a shift from institutional services to services in small community settings, an operational transformation from state government being the provider of services to being the purchaser, a shift from state financing of community services to federal-state cost-sharing, and an increase in people receiving…

Describes the need for schools to develop partnerships with businesses and presents five model projects designed to stay ahead of the job market and create new jobs. Provides follow-up data on two of the models. Lists common elements of successful programs and provides tips on developing partnerships. (AJL)

This study identified the following factors that influenced the regular education/gifted education transitions experienced by four high school African American males: family support, goal development, socialization factors, discrepancies between identification and placement, and discrepancies in the way material was presented in various programs.…

Infant outcomes of substance-abusing mothers who either retained (N=44) or lost (N=23) custody of their children were compared. At six months, infants with their mothers demonstrated better cognitive development than infants with relatives; however, there were three deaths and two cases of suspected child abuse/neglect among infants with mothers,…

This article discusses a comprehensive program for gifted students with learning disabilities in Maryland's Montgomery Country Public Schools (MCPS). MCPS has developed special self-contained classes for gifted students with severe learning disabilities while those with moderate and mild disabilities receive gifted instruction and services in…

This article discusses applications of education legislation for drug-addicted children, including the Education for All Handicapped Children Act and Sec. 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which recognizes smoking and drug addiction as handicapping conditions. Suggested guidelines for parents seeking school support services under these laws…

The Texas Academic Skills Program, a basic-skills test that all entering freshmen must pass before they can enroll in upper-level courses, is discussed. Those who fail it will be required to take non-credit remedial courses and to retake the test until they pass it. (MLW)

Criterion-referenced testing was used to complement norm-referenced procedures in a revision of a university's English-as-a-Second-Language placement test for reading. Test validation results indicated that the revised test better matched the university's program and included more items related to the content and skills that students were…

A case study is presented of a creative, academically gifted adolescent who was intellectually and artistically stifled until the girl, her parents, a gifted education facilitator, a psychologist, and an art mentor worked together to find her a more suitable placement, through early admission to a college art program. (JDD)

Finds that, among 2100 Hispanic elementary students in a four-stage bilingual program, primary language achievement, instructional level, and oral English performance were important indicators of English reading achievement scores and readiness for reclassification to an all-English program. Contains 17 references and 9 tables. (Author/SV)

Reports on information concerning the recruitment of students; job assignments of graduates; allocation of revenues and expenditures; and management reform at Hangzhou University (China). Shows that new students are increasingly coming from senior high schools and that the number of students coming from peasant families is decreasing. Provides…