In addition to regular job duties, such as tree care, mulching, irrigation, and pesticide management, urban park workers have faced environmental changes due to drought, wildfires, and West Nile virus. They simultaneously have endured expectations to manage growing, diversifying park usage and limitations on career development. An integrated…

Extension Online is an Internet-based online course platform that enables the Texas AgriLife Extension Service's Family Development and Resource Management (FDRM) unit to reach tens of thousands of users across the U.S. annually with research-based information. This article introduces readers to Extension Online by describing the history of its…

An effective strategy to improve state planning for delivery of services to the handicapped is seen to involve a carefully developed "action sequence". (Author/SB)

The manual presents a process model for planning and implementing the Local Level Comprehensive System of Personnel Development as outlined in the Texas Education Agency Policies and Administrative Procedures for the Education of Handicapped Students. Part I provides a table of procedures and activities for the personnel training advisory group,…

Presented is a county wide (Travis County, Texas) plan developed by 12 human service agencies to provide comprehensive educational, maintenance, and prevention services to the mentally retarded of all ages. Described are three underlying principles: human ecology (which stresses an individual approach to fulfillment), normalization, and community…

This plan was to establish goals and objectives for the development of a comprehensive service delivery system for Texans with developmental disabilities. Section 1 outlines: the mission and functions of the Council; the definition, incidence, and impact of developmental disability; the Developmental Disabilities Basic State Grant Program; and…

Alternatives for Paraprofessional Training (APT), a 3-year project, addressed the need for training paraprofessionals working with young handicapped children in rural and urban areas of Texas. Objectives of the project were: to identify competencies needed by paraprofessionals in working with young, handicapped children; to identify the needs of…

This Texas state plan presents proposals for provision of services to people with autism. It is noted that less than 25 percent of the estimated 8,500 persons with autism in Texas are currently receiving services. Preliminary sections look at the nature of autism, the numbers of Texans with autism, the responsibilities of the Interagency Council…

This two-part report describes various strategies for involving the private sector in job training programs and summarizes a study conducted with prime sponsors of Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) programs in Texas. Included in a discussion of involving the private sector in job training programs are the following topics: the new…

Special education students who graduate or age-out of school are often not successful in making the transition from school to work. Transition services in Texas are grounded in federal civil rights legislation and a Texas Senate concurrent resolution which calls for preparing and supporting the successful transition of handicapped students to the…

The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health created the School of the Future (SoF) project to enable selected Texas schools to coordinate and implement school-based social and health services on their campuses and to demonstrate the effectiveness of this method of service delivery by evaluating the project. The SoF operated in four sites, each with a…

A Texas study on prekindergarten and early childhood care that was developed for the Texas legislature in response to an amendment of the Texas Education Code is presented. Also presented are findings on: (1) the developmental appropriateness of prekindergarten programs, defined here as programs for eligible 4-year-olds; (2) the potential for…

The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health created the School of the Future (SoF) project to enable selected Texas schools to coordinate and implement school-based social and health services on their campuses and to demonstrate the effectiveness of this method of service delivery by evaluating the project. This report documents the evolution of the SoF…

Assessment of the present status of vocational education in Texas and recommended priorities for the future constitute this annual report. Part 1 documents the progress of the 1970s and lists 15 challenges for vocational education in the 1980s, including application of meaningful evaluation procedures and careful program planning to maximize cost…

A project was conducted to develop a vocational instructional program designed to meet the vocational needs of students in small school districts. During the first phase of the project, a literature review was conducted to identify the philosophical bases, purposes, and structures that characterize cooperative vocational education programs and…