Fifteen fact sheets--two page overviews of issues in special education developed by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Handicapped and Gifted Children in 1981--are presented. The fact sheets address topics in a question and answer format and provide references as well as resources on each subject. The following titles are included, "The Administrator's…

Suggestions are offered for establishing local parent association groups as advocates for gifted and talented students. Beginning concerns include location and recruitment of new members; affiliation with state and national groups (such as the Association for the Gifted within the Council for Exceptional Children and the National Assocation for…

The directory lists 123 local or state parent groups for gifted children in 37 states. Groups are listed alphabetically by name under each state. Provided for each listing is name and address; a contact person (name, address, and phone number); an additional contact person; membership number; organization focus; examples of past and present…

The experience of the Albuquerque, New Mexico second language community is presented as a case study of successful local advocacy. The formation of the Albuquerque Language Teachers Association and the New Mexico State Task Force on Modern and Classical Languages is described, and the passage by the State legislature of a resolution on language…

This document contains fact sheets on four contemporary issues related to young people, (1) teenage pregnancy, (2) juvenile delinquency, (3) youth tutoring of youth, and (4) youth advocacy. The sheet on teenage pregnancy presents statistics on the teenage birth rate, discusses financial and educational problems faced by teenage parents, and…

The theme for the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) 1993-94 was to promote professionalism, collaboration, and advocacy. To facilitate these goals, the ACES president, Barbara Griffin, engaged the members in a dialogue about change--a change supportive of collaboration and advocacy, a change that called for a strong…

One of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Education of the Handicapped Act is the right to an impartial due process hearing. Such hearings are often difficult and emotionally draining experiences. They need not be so difficult, however, because proper and sensitive preparation for a hearing can minimize its negative emotional impact. This…

This paper discusses the stresses our society places on parents, the influence of fathers on their children's development, how parents can actively influence development, individual differences in temperament among children, and environmental as well as ecological factors that affect the development of children. Concluding remarks focus on the…

This monograph provides some starting points for beginning preservation activities in libraries within a framework of three key essentials: awareness, judgment, and advocacy. In the first section, the text is concerned with how public and school libraries can both contribute to, and benefit from, the vast amount of preservation information that is…

This digest offers guidelines for group advocacy efforts on behalf of gifted education. Four potential pitfalls are identified: using an adversarial rather than a persuasive approach; assuming that people in administrative and political positions are not too bright or not very knowledgeable--or both; being impatient; and ineffectively coping with…

This symposium paper discusses ways the federal government is and has been involved in parenting since the foundation of the nation. Included in this discussion are the federal role in funding research related to families and parenting; family research conducted by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (DHEW); the National Institute of…

The link between child abuse and handicapping conditions is examined in a brief summary of research studies focusing on mentally retarded, behavior disordered, and physically handicapped children. Although standardized data collection procedures are lacking, isolated studies suggest a disproportionate incidence of child abuse among the population…

People working in the area of early childhood, either as practitioners or as advocates, are often faced with the task of trying to make sense of federal and state policies. Adopting the approach that an historical perspective is necessary in order to understand the social context in which change or attempted change occurs, this paper presents a…

Civic knowledge, skills, and the disposition to use them to achieve a vision of the community that is desired can be furthered through purposefully structured civic education. Informed judgment and action with regard to the public's affairs is the goal of adult civic education. The integral elements of adult civic education are information,…

Schools and school districts across the United States are establishing and expanding foreign language programs. Although most programs are found at the secondary school level, an increasing number are being established in elementary schools. A survey by the Center for Applied Linguistics indicates that 31% of U.S. elementary schools are offering…