This report presents samples of models and strategies for determining professional development needs of special education personnel. The following areas are covered: definitions of needs and the needs assessment process; personnel needs assessment regulations under the Comprehensive System of Personnel Development, the Individuals with…

The National Workforce Assistance Collaborative (NWAC) was established by the National Alliance of Business to provide assistance to community colleges and other organizations that offer programs to increase business productivity. The NWAC is charged with building the capacity of service providers that work with small and mid-sized companies in…

This publication reports on the planning and implementation of four test programs for teaching exchanges developed by the European Research Group on Training for School Exchanges (ERGTSE) and conducted in France, Italy, and Netherlands. Chapters cover the background and rationale for teaching exchanges; description and analysis of workshop…

Frequently, English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) programs for adults use volunteers as primary or auxiliary providers of instruction. Two primary national volunteer organizations and a number of other national organizations support volunteer ESL and basic literacy instruction, and many states have literacy councils that coordinate and provide…

Case studies of five rural Nebraska communities identified why some rural communities have survived economic trends stemming from the worst agricultural economic crisis since the Great Depression, while others seem to have surrendered. Background information on each community was gathered from available state, federal, and private information…

This proceedings contains presentations grouped by five broad topics concerning disability services in rural areas. The keynote address, by Linda Tonsing-Gonzales, discusses the social services paradigm shift toward empowering the disabled and developing natural support systems. Broad topics and presentation topics are: (1) "negotiating access"…

This guide is intended to be used as a companion to "The Competitive Edge: Sharpening Your Skills in the Workplace" curricular materials--the student editions and instructors' guides. It can also stand alone as a reference for individuals just starting to implement or beginning to plan a workplace skills enhancement program in their organization.…

This final report describes activities of the Early Integration Training Project (EITP), which provided multidisciplinary inservice training to child-care personnel in Ohio to facilitate the inclusion of young children (birth through age 5) with disabilities in typical community early childhood programs. The 3-year project has provided a 15-hour…

This paper describes a study that addressed problems related to the disparity in achievement between disadvantaged and nondisadvantaged students. The first part of the study consisted of an analysis of three early intervention programs: the Responsive Early Childhood Education Program, the Reading Recovery program, and the Success for All program.…

This paper describes strategies developed in the urban studies internship program at San Francisco State University (California). Interns are encouraged to relate practice to theory in their own concrete experience, using their own academic coursework. The strategies involve both structured writing assignments and regular seminar discussion to…

The 1990 Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act established an accountability system for vocational education based on "outcomes" such as academic skill gains, job placement, and program completion. Current congressional proposals for workforce training differ in the emphasis they place on individuals,…

This paper is a transcript of a videotaped roundtable discussion on the role of volunteers in adult literacy in Canada. The participants expressed concern that tutors may not be able to provide the quality of learning experience for adult students that trained teachers could and that volunteers could be taking jobs that should go to trained…

The goal of this book is to provide a program designed to teach peer helping professionals a method and rationale for training peer helpers. Peer helping programs are a major delivery system of affective education or deliberate psychological education. Peer helping programs can provide prevention, intervention, and support systems for people.…

A study worked with three groups of female students to determine whether using the Career Orientation and Planning Profile (COPP) and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) would enable adults to make better career choices the second time around. The students were women in the Access to Careers and Training (ACT) program for unemployed or…

This document presents workshop results and participants' reports from the international conference "Train the Trainers in Information and Communication Technology." The participants consisted of 18 women and one man from Czechoslovakia, Russia, Latvia, Bulgaria, Romania, Mongolia, Jordan, Egypt, and the Philippines. Eleven reports were presented…