Alternative education programs (also called alternative schools) first appeared on the American landscape in the 1960s. Despite the proliferation of these programs, a generic description of what constitutes an alternative education program, historically, has been elusive. Most alternative education programs have the general criteria of serving…

This text was written as an outgrowth of 6 years' work with children aged 3-5 in the Child Development Center at Western Oregon State College, Monmouth, Oregon. The children attending this program included typically developing children as well as children with disabilities. A primary purpose of this book is to share the experiences and learnings…

This technical assistance paper aims to facilitate the team process for developing Individualized Education Programs (IEP) for students with disabilities. The guidelines provide suggestions for meeting legal requirements related to IEP development and offer recommendations designed to be responsive to parents, useful for educators and students,…

This article focuses upon the use of the portfolio as a tool to assess professional performance in beginning classroom teachers and in special education applications. An Oregon pilot study, the Beginning Teacher Assessment Model (BTAM) for elementary teachers in their second or third year in the classroom, is described. The BTAM relies extensively…

This sourcebook describes methods of dealing with dropouts in Oregon school districts. "At-risk youth" and "dropout" are defined and survey results of 98 percent of superintendents concerning program offerings are summarized. Data suggest that medium-size districts require greatest assistance. Despite increases in single-parent…

Research findings and examples of inschool suspension programs in Oregon are combined in this bulletin. An introduction defines "at-risk" students as those having behavioral or attendance problems. Unlike traditional out-of-school suspension, alternative programs attempt to keep at-risk students at school. Chapter 1 surveys three…

This document is intended to help school districts in Oregon develop procedures for the operation of local special education programs. The guide is formatted to show legal requirements in the left column of each page with sample procedures in the right column. The sample procedures are not required and are intended to work in conjunction with the…

A workplace basic skills program was designed to complement technical training for mixing personnel at the Portland Bakery of Nabisco, Inc. Management, the union, and Portland Community College (Oregon) collaborated in the program. The company released workers on company time to attend classes prior to, during, and after the technical training…