This report discusses the activities and outcomes of Project Coach Outreach, a project to encourage the use of best practices in early intervention for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities and to increase family-centered service options in Mississippi. Specifically, the project focused on the use of natural environments to include…

This project evaluated a program for enhancing student motivation as evidenced by improved academic growth and increased work completion. The targeted population consisted of fifth graders in a small school in a medium-sized rural community in the Midwest. The problem of lack of achievement motivation and lack of student concern about academic…

This final report discusses the activities and outcomes of a 4-year federally funded project designed to provide effective practices in the delivery of educational services to Pennsylvania children and youth with deafblindness from birth through 21 years of age and to their families and service providers. Outcomes of the project included: (1)…

This paper reflects on lessons learned from the implementation of KAN Focus, a demonstration project to develop a system of care for children with severe emotional disturbance in rural southeast Kansas. It notes trends toward providing more and younger children with community-based support services which provide family centered services,…

The Community Assessment (CA) is the collection and analysis of information on the characteristics and needs of American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) Head Start/Early Head Start (HS/EHS) eligible children and families in the grantee service area and the resources available to meet those needs. The primary purpose of conducting a Community…

Throughout the post-war period there have been many attempts to reform the UK education system, often with an explicit intention to try and make it more productive. The list of education policy reforms that have been attempted over the last 50 years is quite extensive, and recently the UK (and in particular England and Wales) has introduced many…

Anecdotal information has recently suggested that families of infants and toddlers with disabilities in Nebraska were seeking early intervention services from providers not affiliated with the free, state-sanctioned "Early Development Network" and children's "Individualized Family Service Plans" (IFSPs). The purpose of this…

Following pilot implementation in 2003-2004, a cohort of 16 AISD schools received district support for the implementation of Positive Behavior Support (PBS) on their campuses in 2004-2005. The results of the evaluation suggest that by spring 2005, most schools had created representative PBS teams, established clearly defined behavioral…

Certain risk factors for cardiovascular disease may be modified in childhood. The paper discusses high blood cholesterol, obesity, physical inactivity, smoking, and high blood pressure, noting that risk factor education and modification can occur at home, school, or the doctor's office. (Author/SM)

Ten factors are discussed for promoting the success of students who are deaf: family involvement; self-determination; extracurricular activities; friendships and social skills; self-advocacy skills; collaboration and communication with general education teachers; pre-teaching and post-teaching materials in general education classrooms;…

A survey about inclusion of children with disabilities in early-childhood settings was responded to by 172 parents, practicing professionals in early-childhood programs, university-based trainers, and preservice students. Professional competence and importance of skills were rated for five domains: (1) working with families, (2) performance-based…

Suggests that teachers use classroom strategies (structure and routine, reasonable rules and limits, using appropriate methods of discipline, other positive behavior management techniques) and socio-emotional interventions (development of friendships, appropriate expressions of emotions, anger control, conflict management, and internal sense of…

Health promotion and community building strategies are increasingly using the arts as a basis for engaging young people. Through involvement in arts activity, participants have been shown to develop supportive social networks and report increased feelings of well-being (Jermyn, 2001). In particular, drama strategies and programs have been used as…

This study addressed the need for empirical tests of the global instructional design (ID) model as a toolkit for classroom teachers in authentic settings; and the performance improvement challenge of finding effective, efficient methods of professional development for preparing graduate assistants to teach. Participants were eighteen teaching…

The Center on Disease Control, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (2005) identified the prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) as being 10 per 1,000. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has further explained (2005) that FASD now outranks autism and Down syndrome in prevalence.…