This commentary on Erb's (1995) article on institutionalization argues that living in one's home community is better than being forced to leave it to obtain needed services. The commentary also criticizes the assertion that supported living programs funded through Medicaid waiver are not cost-effective compared to traditional institutional or…

Robert Erb responds to commentaries to his paper on institutional placement for individuals with severe disabilities and the costs of community and institutional placements. Risk-and-benefit issues, in addition to cost-and-benefit ones, are addressed. (SW)

Describes how the DeVry Institute of Technology (Illinois), a for-profit educational institution, outperforms the federal government's plan in providing job training by offering quality technical education to working-class students. The author compares total degree costs, explains the school's curriculum and educational practices, and explores the…

This article refutes 10 myths and identifies literature that supports service delivery to infants and toddlers with disabilities in natural settings. The benefits of naturalistic intervention, home-based services, and family-centered services are discussed, and concerns regarding therapist shortages, ethical problems, personal safety of providers,…

Presents model for estimation of student unit costs and staffing requirements. Begins with specification of a "staff distribution matrix" setting out proportions of staff levels in a given staff category that are needed for a degree level. Student unit cost and staffing requirements are computed through manipulations on the matrix. The…

Examines the concept of cost sharing between grantor agencies and grantee institutions and identifies problems encountered, including use of cost sharing to leverage funds by both funding agencies and grantee institutions; and various grantee institution costing, accounting, and auditing issues, such as effort reporting, the Cost Accounting…

Consumer outcomes and recurrent service costs were compared for 31 individuals with disabilities in group homes and 56 individuals living semi-independently in Australia. Participants living semi-independently had significantly less social dissatisfaction, used community facilities more frequently and independently, participated more in domestic…

A study of 86 adults with mental retardation living in village communities, 133 in residential campuses, and 281 in dispersed housing schemes found dispersed housing had higher costs and had greater quality of care than did residential campuses. Quality of life benefits were associated with dispersed housing and village communities. (Contains…

This article presents tables showing statistics on selected indicators of change between June 30, 1990, and June 30, 2000, in the areas of residential services (large public residential facilities populations, all residential service recipients, and persons in settings of 6 or fewer), Medicaid long-term care program participation, and service…

Extracurricular activities, particularly sports, have a long-standing tradition in public schools. However, the cost of running extracurricular programs has risen steeply. In many districts, state and local funding is shrinking, and extracurricular activities are often the first items to be put on the chopping block. In this article, the authors…

Few studies have addressed the effects of teacher education generally, no less the specific program elements necessary to prepare competent and caring teachers. As a result, to address teacher shortages in science, mathematics, and special education, alternatives to traditional preparation have been proposed, and their development has proceeded…

Online education encompasses a variety of technologies, one of which is lecture capture--a long-standing practice at the University of Geneva. The faculty of arts has recorded most of its lectures on audiotapes since the 1970s, well before the World Wide Web existed. Modernization of the recording technologies, however, which until recently…

This study evaluated costs associated with implementation of Individualized Family Service Plans (IFSP) for infants and young children with disabilities at four California sites. Specifically the study examined: (1) IFSP and existing service planning process costs in time and dollars; (2) the impact of IFSP processes on agencies and families; and…

A study of 44 infants and toddlers with disabilities enrolled in 3 diverse early intervention programs in 3 states examined the cost of early intervention services and the core ingredients of hourly service cost. During the 12-month study, all service events were recorded for 1 week per month. Overall, findings revealed an extremely wide range in…

This document consists of three volumes representing a 3-year study of the Chapter 1 Migrant Education Program (MEP). The study used current and nationally representative data to address research questions related to program targeting, services, communications, and administration. Volume I presents study findings from mail questionnaires completed…