This guide is intended to help schools in the United Kingdom move toward greater inclusion of students with disabilities or other special educational needs in regular programs, with appropriate support. Following an introduction, which encourages local education agencies (LEAs) to move towards "inclusive" policies and practices, the…

The more revolutionary, drastic education reform efforts are usually supported by new governmental legislation. This book offers three case studies of drastic reform carried out in Kentucky, Alberta, and Chicago. The reforms can be visualized in terms of how close they are to the alternative aims of expert guidance, social activism, and an…

This paper chronicles a process of structural change in the College of Education at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Data for the study were derived from interviews with 40 of the participants, plus archival material collected from the college planning office. The paper summarizes some of the historical context surrounding the change and…

This analysis of economic conditions in the United States challenges the view, emphasized during the 1994 Congressional elections, that restraining government social spending and reforming welfare should be the country's top domestic policy priority. It is argued instead that the major domestic priority should be to address an economic environment…

This guide was developed to assist families and professionals working with people having severe disabilities to improve the overall quality of life these individuals experience. An introduction contrasts new attitudes (such as emphasizing individual strengths and personal control and autonomy) with existing practices which often focus on students'…

The Maternal Child Health Program Interchange series is intended to promote the cooperative exchange of information about program ideas, activities, and materials. This issue of the Interchange provides information about selected materials and publications related to the health and safety of infants and young children in child care settings. The…

This paper summarizes the results of a study of the local consequences of implementing statewide minimum competency tests. For American education to be the best in the world, the use of statewide and nationwide standardized testing as a primary policy tool for stimulating reform must be discontinued. Second, school district responses to such…

A discussion session for urban school superintendents from Pennsylvania and New Jersey identified four educational issues, currently the focus of a good deal of political debate and activity, that illustrate the shift from local to Federal, and then from Federal to state-level influence and initiative. These are (1) centralization of control; (2)…

Designed to assist educators in developing or revising school/library copyright policy, this packet provides the following materials: (1) a viewer's guide for the film "Copyright Law: What Every School, College, and Public Library Should Know"; (2) a statement of the primary missions of the Association for Information Media and Equipment (AIME);…

This federally mandated report describes Fiscal Year 1993 activities of the National Council on Disability, which provides leadership in the development and evaluation of disability policy. The report states the mission of the Council and names of its members and staff. It provides synopses of research conferences, news conferences, testimony…

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), an arm of the Library of Congress, leads a highly successful national program to produce and distribute books and magazines for blind, visually impaired, and physically handicapped individuals. A fostering relationship exists between NLS and a network of 143 regional and…

A model for preparing teachers to teach successfully in a performance-based educational environment using Total Quality Management principles is called Total Quality Performance (TQP). On the TQP model everyone is involved in a process of continuous improvement toward the achievement of performance outcomes that are clearly defined and consistent…

Information about the specific literacy levels, needs, motivations, and resources of older adults is virtually nonexistent. As the percentage of older adults in the U.S. population continues to increase, federal/state policymakers must take the following actions: increase the attention/funding given to literacy programs targeting older adults;…

Too many four-year colleges and universities have failed to develop policies for recognizing knowledge gained outside four-year college programs. Several universities are, however, beginning to respond to the needs of adult learners with years of experiential learning (EL), especially that acquired through work experience or on-the-job training.…

With the growing politicization of education, the increasing number of educational reports and commissions, the growing interdependence of nations and their economic systems, this paper explores which factors normally shape education systems. Specifically, it identifies the extraneous and international forces shaping the intellectual agenda and…