Virginia Cooperative Extension's Public Information System includes three programs readable on laser discs: Consumer Products, Money Matters, and There Is a Law. The touch-screen interface and flexible design provide users with access to hours of information and hundreds of printed fact sheets. (Author)

This article presents a framework for providing services to infants with disabilities and their families, by conceptualizing early intervention in terms of levels of prevention. Primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of prevention are proposed to prevent the manifestation, severity, or extended impact of developmental delays; and implications for…

SHOP, or Search Handicapped Outreach Program, identifies gifted/learning-disabled students, develops enrichment activities using J. Renzulli's Triad Model, and implements effective delivery models to provide an environment in which the students can utilize their strengths and interact with gifted peers. (JDD)

Discusses emerging educational service delivery systems for homeless children and youth, stressing policy implications for overcoming barriers to their education. Mainstream program models fit the intent of the 1990 Mckinney Act amendments. Programs should address individual and family resource needs through interagency collaboration and provide…

Uses data from three studies of work norm development to explore a framework for assessing prospects for successful interagency collaboration among schools and other social service agencies. Social service failures are systemic, springing from inappropriate use of work-role specialization and bureaucratic organization. Overcoming the resulting…

Two approaches for early intervention with Head Start children are described: a child-centered intradynamic approach using one-to-one play therapy, and a family-centered ecological system which works with the family unit and other support agencies. Criteria are discussed for determining the applicability of either modality in individual cases.…

Surveys in 1993 and 1995 of German vocational schools found that graduates of both Traditional Dual Vocational Training Programs and Noncompany-Based Dual Vocational Programs were satisfied with program quality and their jobs. Differences in economic outcomes were attributed to the perception that traditional programs were higher in quality.…

Providing continuous, personalized, high-quality staff development programs fosters the delivery of effective, comprehensive services to Head Start children and families. This article suggests directors follow the following staff development principles: draft a philosophy; define staff development; assess staff development needs; focus on the…

The Association of California School Administrators and the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association are cooperating to provide a formal, systemwide approach to coordinating and aligning curricula. The Curriculum Management Audit Center sponsors training programs to help districts determine how well they are designing and…

A study involving 64 Australian parents of children with mental retardation (ages 4-31) found no significant differences between mothers and fathers in terms of their general positivity-negativity, but that fathers were less represented by overall responses than mothers. Significant differences were also found between subgroups of mothers.…

This study examined current practices and perceptions of 345 supported-employment-provider agencies regarding extended services. Findings indicate that provider agencies were underutilizing natural support networks within consumers' workplaces for essential extended-support needs and that the majority of consumers were only receiving the minimal…

Analyzes the application of levels of deficits or supports in the classification of mental retardation in published research. Analysis of data from three professional journals indicated that the supports model of classification has had no significant impact in subject descriptions reported in mental-retardation research. Implications for teacher…

Major components of the social support and social systems approach to early intervention are reviewed, reflections are presented, and the future use of the model are discussed. The paper concludes with an overview of a "third generation" model integrating new evidence for studying and practicing family systems intervention. (Contains extensive…

Argues that we can help develop resilience in youth by using a nontraditional approach to changing the fragmented manner in which most services are provided. This approach can include demonstrating desired behaviors instead of relying on the enforcement of mandates or directives to support the change process. (GCP)

Explores a socially resilient system of care and two key elements of the wraparound process: cultural competence and discovering family strengths, preferences, voice, and choice. Demonstrates the basic elements of an organized, resilient system of care and community strengths and includes exercises in social resilience, cultural competence, and…