The work experience career exploration program (WECEP), a junior high school alternative education program for potential school dropouts, was implemented at Ben Franklin Junior High School in the Fargo, North Dakota, school district during the 1975-76 school year. Patterned after vocational education cooperative work experience programs, WECEP is…

This article discusses the state-of-the-art of vocational education programs for individuals with special needs. Barriers which prohibit student participation in vocational education are discussed, as well as legislative developments, exemplary program elements, teacher education, vocational alternatives for the handicapped, and future directions.…

Given the parameters of the Bakke decision, institutions must now attempt to balance conventional admissions criteria with a careful assessment of disadvantagement among both minority and majority applicants. (Author/LBH)

Disadvantaged children participated in a creativity-enhancing program at a summer camp. Immediately following the treatment and four months later, the experimental group showed significantly higher scores and creativity tests than the control group, who participated in regular recreational activities. The tutors and the games used are described.…

Describes issues which emerged when undergraduates implemented a preventively oriented educational program for disadvantaged children. Undergraduates unwittingly imposed standard English and inculcated mainstream cultural norms. Efforts were made to identify and resolve these problems to support and strengthen the children's traditions, values and…

The authors review the role of special needs teacher education to meet the challenges of providing appropriate public education and vocational training for handicapped and disadvantaged learners under applicable provisions of recent legislation (P.L. 94-142 and P.L. 93-516). Major changes in teacher education required by the legislation are…

Early educational intervention in the lives of disadvantaged children has proven pay offs to society and higher education. A comprehensive national effort to ensure that every child has basic health, nutrition, and early childhood services is advocated. (MLW)

Describes the Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) Program, designed to develop thinking skills and improve academic achievement for disadvantaged students in grades four through six by using computers. Highlights include curriculum development, teacher training, and the development of new approaches to existing software. (LRW)

Describes an exchange program through which Israeli children learned a peer-tutoring system that improved reading, spelling, and math skills of children in Kansas City, Kansas, while a therapist in the Kansas City area learned a new behavior management technique from an Israeli professor. (BB)

Four award-winning summer programs provide opportunities for disabled children. Agassiz Village integrates physically disabled, inner-city, suburban, and rural campers. Camp Challenge serves hearing-impaired children and their families. Minspeak provides hands-on experience with assistive equipment and techniques for nonspeaking children, parents,…

The Beginning with Books project distributed 1,000 free packets of children's books to disadvantaged families, and questionnaires showed favorable effects on literacy activities and family reading patterns. The program is now affiliated with the Pittsburgh public library, and a new literacy program is aimed at children in families of adults who…

Examines the ways in which schools facilitate and reproduce structured social inequalities in Australian society. Shows that curriculum variations in state and private secondary schools produce graduates with radically different cultural orientations to school, scholarship, and social and occupational life beyond academe. Lists 35 references. (MLH)

Benefit-cost analysis is applied to the Perry Preschool Program and its long-term follow-up in order to examine preschool education as a social investment. The net present value of benefits and costs is positive, indicating that the program was a profitable social investment. (Author/LMO)

Defines long-term benefits of the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) program by surveying enrollees and parents to determine if: (1) enrollees believed that YCC participation improved their attitudes, skills, and behaviors; (2) perceived benefits varied according to different enrollees or camps; and (3) social benefits exist beyond those identified by…

This study examined the effectiveness of elements by the thematic-fantasy play training paradigm in facilitating story recall of 192 disadvantaged kindergartners and first graders. Results include: adult tuition did not facilitate story recall; and fantasy enactment affected immediate but not maintained story recall. (BS)