This guide from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services in the U.S. Department of Education is designed to assist school administrators in understanding the challenges faced in creating safe, effective learning environments, whole school practices that have dramatically increased effective learning environments, and under what…

This digest discusses research that documents the benefits of keeping gifted students together, the advantages and disadvantages of cluster grouping, and how to implement cluster grouping strategies. It argues that cluster grouping allows educators to come much closer to providing better educational services for groups of students with similar…

This document is comprised of four consecutive issues (Winter 1999-Fall 2000) of a newsletter providing information on current research and practice to professionals teaching in the primary grades. The newsletter is published by the National Association of Early Childhood Specialists in State Departments of Education (NAECS/SDE); participating…

This paper describes the Chicago Area Directors of Student Teachers (CADST), formed in 1969 as an outgrowth of the Chicago Consortium, which was designed to initiate cooperation among institutions of higher education in the Chicago area. Members of CADST work together to share ideas and deal with issues relevant to working with preservice…

Although kindergarten entry is delayed for a significant number of children each year, many aspects of this practice have not been investigated. This study examined reasons mothers chose to delay their child's kindergarten entry and the decision-making process related to this choice. Participating in this qualitative interview study were 15…

This document provides information and data related to the provision of special education in Washington State. Baseline information is presented along with an update of the most current and complete annual data. Information includes: (1) the purpose, membership, goals, and activities of the Special Education Advisory Council (SEAC); (2) Office of…

This guide presents the Department of Education's strategy for ending social promotion in public schools. It opens with a description of social promotion and the pervasiveness and the consequences of this practice. The volume outlines the high standards that all students should be held to and emphasizes the importance of creating reliable measures…

This annual report provides an overview of special education students and services in North Dakota and describes the programs, funding, and special projects for the 1998-1999 school year made available to special education units through Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and state special education funds. A state summary,…

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which sociodemographic, language acquisition, college experience, and placement test variables can predict the academic success of immigrant students at a large public university system in the United States. Immigrants were defined as "foreign-born" people, regardless of citizenship or legal…

The first purpose of this study is to do a comparative analysis in terms of the item difficulty and discrimination index between Mathematics Placement Test Form A and G. The results seem to suggest that items on both forms of the placement test are equally difficult. However, items on form A appear to have more discrimination power than items on…

This book examines the reactions of schools in Massachusetts and California to policies that sought to persuade schools to abandon or reduce tracking--the practice of grouping students into classes by ability and organizing curriculum by level of difficulty. The text is divided into 8 chapters: (1) "Implementing Tracking Reform," which…

As an admissions test, the SAT II: Subject Tests in foreign languages allow students to demonstrate academic competence in the selected language area. As a placement tool, the SAT II: Subject Tests in foreign languages serve the same function as the SAT II: Subject Tests do in other academic areas such as world history, chemistry, or math. SAT II:…

A study in New York State produces information on the backgrounds, status, and needs of this group of placement directors. (Author)

Discusses five reasons for keeping placement and followup services within the school's domain. (SB)