Early childhood educators have a unique opportunity to foster the development of cognitive, behavioral, and social skills. But the work is not easy. Effective educators need both a deep understanding of child development and mastery of a complex set of skills to meet the learning needs of young children. Accordingly, there is a growing demand…

Community coalitions (CCs) have labored with some difficulty to demonstrate empirical evidence of effectiveness in preventing a wide range of adolescent problem behaviors. Training and technical assistance (TA) have been identified as important elements in promoting improved functioning of CCs. A reliable, valid, and inexpensive method to assess…

This paper presents a five-year plan for the improvement of Pennsylvania's system of services for people with mental retardation and their families. It was developed over an 18-month period by 70 people, including people with disabilities, family members, advocates, providers of service, legislative staff, and county and state government…

This handbook is an introduction to the topics that adult basic and literacy education (ABLE) program administrators need to know. The 77 articles by various authors are divided into 6 sections. "A Background for the ABLE Program Administrator" covers the definition of a program administrator, a guiding philosophy, a brief history of…

Pennsylvania's family literacy programs were subjected to a statewide evaluation in 1999-2000. Data were collected through focus groups with parents, a survey of staff in community agencies and organizations, and analyses of program data and the findings of selected assessments administered to adults and children involved in the program.…