This position paper of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) addresses issues related to the discipline of students with severe behavior disorders or other disabilities. It specifically considers: (1) placement of disruptive and/or dangerous students; (2) cost issues of alternatives to suspension and expulsion; (3) legal parameters under the…

This report provides information on the incidence of and services provided to students with disabilities or gifts and talents in Idaho in the school year 1995-96. Through charts, graphs, and text, information is provided on: (1) the number of students served by category of disability; (2) special instructional programs and services; (3) the…

Federal legislation for educating students with disabilities guides the selection of educational placements on the basis of the least restrictive environment, which must encourage the promotion of social interaction between students with disabilities and their nondisabled peers and must provide students an appropriate education. Some advocacy…

Mediation in special education is a process intended to assist parents, schools, and agencies in resolving disagreements regarding the special education program of a student with disabilities. A trained mediator works with the parties to guide them toward a mutually satisfactory solution that meets the best interests of the student. This occurs at…

Concerns about student resegregation resulting from discriminatory student grouping practices are highlighted in this paper. Part 1 determines the characteristics of discriminatory ability grouping and tracking practices through a content analysis of 35 Office for Civil Rights (OCR) case file documents for the fiscal years 1983-89. Twenty-three…

The Spanish Skills Placement Test (SSPT) is the product of a need for a Spanish literacy placement instrument for use with literacy, adult basic education, and pre-General Educational Development program students. The need for the test was expressed by a variety of Illinois literacy organizations and agencies, particularly those in Chicago. The…

A study examined the expectations of incoming University of Tennessee at Chattanooga freshmen about an hour-long placement essay. Subjects, 96 randomly chosen students, responded to a series of 5 questions concerning what an essay is, what kinds of writing they had done, how they feel about writing tests, what topics they had written about in…

Matriculation regulations in California require that community colleges which adopt standardized placement tests demonstrate that the tests are valid predictors of future course success. A positive correlation of at least .35 between test score and subsequent student performance in a particular course is needed to demonstrate the predictive…

This lecture examines the failure of the United States to produce literate, mathematically competent high school graduates and criticizes "cyclic faddism" as a ploy of desperate educators who keep going back to methods that have been tried and found wanting. Bright spots in education are cited, including the achievement of Jaime…

The report describes activities in the final year of a 3-year project designed to address the placement needs of adult education agencies teaching English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students in California. The long-term goal was to identify instruments appropriate for use with the state's model standards for language proficiency. The two primary…

This packet contains materials that constitute an introduction to issues of confidentiality and informed consent in therapy or educational placement. Procedural safeguards for special education assignment have been designed to ensure that parents are involved in decisions regarding the testing and placement of their child. Issues of informed…

An ethnographic study examined the issue of educational equity in student placement as it related to the first-grade reading program in the San Diego City Schools. Four first-grade classrooms from four different schools, one in each of the districts's four operations areas, were selected for study as being representative of the geographic…

State regulations for educating gifted children in Ohio are outlined. The rules cover: eligibility/identification; placement procedures; supportive services and experiences (acceleration, special experiences, guidance, organizational options); and criteria for state reimbursement for employment of gifted education teachers and coordinators in…

Questions concerning year-round schooling are presented and answered in this report. Following a definition of year-round education, examples of single-track and multitrack schedules are described, along with the calendar variations within them. Other issues that are addressed include holidays and intersessions, compliance with the Alberta School…

The student placement test in English as a Second Language used for the Eurocentres schools in the United Kingdom differs from traditional placement tests in that it is a vocabulary test and does not attempt to measure other aspects of learner knowledge of English. The test attempts to measure absolute size of the learner's English vocabulary. The…