A practicum study was planned and implemented by a working mother for the purpose of developing a child care resource and referral agency in an eastern metropolitan area. The objective of the practicum was to increase the number of child care referrals available to working families by 10 percent over a 10-week period. Of the 110 surveys mailed to…

A licensed counselor working in a privately owned mental health facility implemented a practicum study designed to improve the parenting skills and quality of family communication in families with children between 3 and 14 years of age. Practicum goals were to: (1) give parents information that would improve their parenting skills; and (2)…

The practicum designed a perceptual activities program for learning disabled second graders using computer-assisted instruction. The program develops skills involving visual motor coordination, figure-ground differentiation, form constancy, position in space, and spatial relationships. Five behavioral objectives for each developmental area were…

A practicum was designed to increase participation of families in home-school literacy activities. The school was located in a suburban village in the northeastern United States. Data indicated that many families of first- and second-grade minority students who were bused to the school for integration purposes were not participating in home-school…

Fourth-grade students in one elementary school were administered a listening inventory, the Listening Composite section of the Test of Language Development-Intermediate, and a questionnaire "Are You a Good Listener" to assess their listening skills. The results showed that students lacked listening skills and did not have adequate…

An elementary school teacher designed and implemented a program intended to reduce excessive absenteeism among first grade public school students. The program consisted of four basic parts: (1) perusal of attendance cards and grade books prior to treatment; (2) implementaton of treatment; (3) post-perusal of attendance cards and grade books; and…

A preschool director designed and implemented a classroom safety curriculum plan to increase the safety knowledge of preschool children. Implemented for 10 weeks, the plan consisted of classroom lessons, hands on practice, and activities for music, art, and language development. Parent education articles were sent home to reinforce what the…

The focus of a child caring facility had changed from caring exclusively for orphans to serving a broader population of abandoned, abused, and neglected children. Because no effective marketing tool existed within this child caring agency to make agency identification and information readily accessible to county departments of social services…

The practicum was designed to increase parent participation in a preschool (birth to 3 years) special education program serving children with handicaps in Chicago, Illinois. The practicum was intended to provide parents with an effective and meaningful involvement in a structured program of transition services. Input from both staff and parents…

The head teacher of a child care organization implemented a practicum intervention designed to establish complete and clear procedures, guidelines, and standards of quality for staff members. As a result of the practicum intervention, it was expected that at the end of 10 weeks: (1) the staff at the child care center would support a plan for…

An early childhood educator at a 360-bed community general hospital implemented a licensed on-site child care program for children between 6 weeks and 10 years of age in order to improve employee recruitment and retention by assisting employees with appropriate child care arrangements. A parent questionnaire was used to assess the degree to which…

Because of social changes, a large number of teenagers are entering parenthood with little or no parenting education. A need has presented itself for communities, including school districts, to provide parenting education for teens. This practicum project involved the design and implementation of a strategy to provide practical parenting education…

Once the need for continuing learning in professional fields was acknowledged, the idea of voluntary learning evolved into a requirement for mandatory continuing education (MCE) in many professions. Despite the variation among professions and individual states' policies, MCE for professionals is a well-entrenched fact of life for many…

A number of procedures were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the "Helping Hand," a free monthly newsletter published by the Barbour County (Alabama) Extension Service, with a circulation of 1,000. Seven criteria were established using related literature and advice from extension service professionals. A questionnaire and a cover…

This practicum report describes a recruitment program to include black residents in a residential program for teenage girls with emotional problems. Recruitment efforts stressed the following four principles: (1) staff preparation for work within a multicultural setting; (2) presentation of the facility to new black referral sources; (3) renewed…