The Goals 2000 Act focuses on local decisions to improve education. The challenge for school business administrators will be to meet the changes in the way schools and districts operate in the areas of linking social services, budgeting, and purchasing. Lists the eight goals of the act, along with the objectives for measuring achievement of each…

Explains the history and organization of the U.S. Global Change Research Program. Highlights include participating agencies; data and information management needs, including the Global Change Data and Information System (GCDIS); and four sidebars that discuss GCDIS implementation, prototype projects, the library access, search, and retrieval pilot…

Describes the Iowa Communications Network, a statewide fiber optic network capable of transporting interactive, two-way audio, video, voice, and data signals. Topics include statewide cooperation among educational and state organizations; classroom design, including interactive classrooms; access to the Internet; and use by noneducational…

Analyzes the diverse services available for preschool children in the United Kingdom and considers the nature of the demand for such services. Discusses local initiatives, such as those undertaken in the Strathclyde region of Scotland in the 1980s, to coordinate and integrate services for preschool children. (MDM)

Reports on health care and social service providers in Seattle (Washington) whose clients are mainly inner-city teens. It discusses the costs and benefits of collaboration among these organizations for adolescent service delivery and the conditions that support and threaten collaborative relationships. Special reference is made to changing…

Ways that 17 Massachusetts schools and 16 adult agencies promoted natural supports in employment of people with severe disabilities are discussed, along with the barriers they experienced. Results indicate wide use of some practices and confusion about the concept of natural supports and the role of service providers in facilitating involvement.…

This response to EC 604 968 seeks to provide a broader perspective to discussion of the least restrictive environment and contemporary practices and to link the ethics and practices of collaborative processes in special education to the issues and strategies for facilitating school reform in general. (JDD)

Describes the placement experiences in the child welfare system of 10 children of mixed African-American and Caucasian parentage. A case study review assessed biological parents' feelings about their children's racial identity and service needs, and examined the selection of potential foster families. Offers guidelines for child welfare policy and…

W. Edwards Deming built a 40-year record of quality management in Japan known as Total Quality Management (TQM). His 14 points require a change in the belief system of managers and media directors, but their implementation in government agencies and schools will produce increased time for better services, better communications, and new programs.…

This summary of a seminar meeting on reorganization of the field of rehabilitation for persons with blindness or visual impairment addresses the need for a national coalition, formation of a national agency for blind persons, consolidation of services, the use of paraprofessionals, the need for separate state plans, agency accreditation, and…

A survey of 123 parents of school-age children with intellectual disability in New South Wales, Australia, examined age of disclosure of the disability, information provided to parents, services recommended, services viewed as most "understanding" or "useful," and schooling. One-fourth of parents commented on deficiencies in…

Services of two school districts to exceptional students in transition are reviewed. The Great Falls (Montana) model involves a five-year individualized education program, maximum integration, and three phases of paid employment. The Natrona County (Wyoming) program is based on such crucial services as vocational evaluation, community living…

This section includes lists of networks, consortia, and other cooperative library organizations; national associations in the United States and Canada; state, provincial, and regional associations and agencies; state school library media associations; state supervisors of school library media services; international library associations; and…

Reviews the motives behind four Iowa university presidents' decision to drop NCATE (the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education), including budgetary shortfalls, declining program quality, NCATE's "intrusion" into liberal arts domains, antipathy toward accountability, and negative attitudes toward teaching. By acting…

Ways in which colleges can involve their students in voluntary community service programs are outlined, and development of campus service programs is discussed. The program at East Tennessee State University is offered as illustration. A list of community service resource organizations, with addresses, is included. (MSE)