Examines the history of the North Central Association's Commission on Schools, highlighting seven common misconceptions and citing the historical record to correct them. Discusses the commission's origins, accreditation achievements, accreditation methodologies, relationship to government agencies, dues, and staff size. (MAB)

This commentary argues that services to treat and prevent child abuse and neglect need to bridge an unnecessary gap between practitioners and parents. The article suggests that services for parents be designed as services practitioners themselves would like to use, and that parents should be welcomed into therapy with immediate help rather than…

This article describes the use of ecological assessments for medically fragile students to ensure transitions across service settings. A multi-step process involving the collaboration of multidisciplinary medical and educational teams to develop a Health Care Plan is described. The school health nurse is targeted as the liaison who facilitates…

California's legislature voted overwhelmingly to extend the charter of the Council for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education, which regulates most of the state's for-profit institutions and is credited with reducing fraudulent schools. The Republican governor, however, has vetoed the measure amid heavy lobbying by trade-school officials,…

Urges child care programs to seek accreditation from NAEYC's National Academy of Early Childhood Programs to increase program quality and provides information on the validation process. Includes information on the validation visit and the validator's role and background. Offers suggestions for preparing the director, staff, children, and families…

Surveyed social agencies' awareness of possible developmental problems of alcohol and substance abusers' children, extent to which agency felt it could deal with the problem involving the family, and development of services for children of substance abusers. Found that many agency workers considered involvement in family problems to be part of…

A survey of adult learning opportunities in Belfast, Northern Ireland, found an emerging sector of community and voluntary organizations offering programs emphasizing issue-based, action-oriented learning in a democratic participative culture. They offer alternatives to traditional formal providers of liberal adult education. (SK)

Argues that a relationship between the North Central Association Commission on Schools (NCA-COS) and universities can be mutually beneficial to both organizations. Describes examples of such interrelationships, and lists the benefits that result from them. (AJL)

Notes that it is not known whether more time spent in school increases children's learning. Suggests that instead of running the "assembly line" for more hours, educators might try a summer program based on enrichment and fun-time activities as an alternative way to discover whether more learning time would be a good investment. An important…

Discussion of findings of a study in Scotland notes that it was possible to prevent disciplinary exclusion from school, that interagency collaboration was central to this, but that strategies to prevent school exclusion often meant young people were not very fully included in the mainstream curriculum. Relevant differences in policy and practice…

Project Confirm aims to address the problem of foster children ending up in detention because of police and probation officers' difficulty in locating guardians to appear on behalf of arrested children. Project Confirm locates juveniles' caseworkers and informs them of their legal responsibilities. The program reached most of its implementation…

Examination of nine federally funded projects identified as national models in assisting the career development of college students with learning disabilities resulted in recommendations in key areas: agency collaboration, business/industry outreach, advisory boards, career assessment, career-technical education, internships, cooperative…

Interviews 16 school board chairs in North Carolina to determine their attitudes toward state education reform legislation. Discusses two themes emerging from the interviews: Downsizing the state bureaucracy translates into autonomy and accountability at the local level, but paradoxically boards now lack the organizational buffering previously…

Discussion of developmental disability and child welfare notes the relatively high numbers of children with disabilities receiving child welfare services and/or in foster homes. Suggested changes include training for prospective foster or adoptive parents, the new concept of the "foster to adopt" family, and more involvement of professionals in…

Discussion of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) focuses on its applicability to computer records. Agency practices to ensure access to information are considered; requests, litigation, and administrative appeals that have helped clarify the FOIA are described; and computer software, electronic mail, computer programing, and requested formats…