Early detection of developmental and behavioral/mental health problems is greatly facilitated when quality instruments are deployed. This article describes how to identify accurate measures and presents standards for screening tests. Included is a table delineating accurate tools for primary care: typically those relying on information from…

The transitions from an elementary school to a middle level school and from a middle level school to a high school are major stepping-stones in the lives of young adolescents and their parents. These times are characterized by changes in school expectations and practices--changes that are often amplified when special education issues are thrown…

This report, covering the program year 1987-1988, is designed to inform the Congress of the status of children with disabilities in Head Start programs. The report states that the program's mandate of having 10 percent or more of the total number of enrollment opportunities in Head Start programs available for handicapped children was met in each…

This report describes the activities of the Head Start program relating to children with disabilities in the 1988-1989 year. Head Start nationally achieved a 13.5 percent level of enrollment of children with professionally diagnosed disabilities. All states and jurisdictions met the federal mandate of at least 10 percent enrollment of children…

A rural school developed a system to identify and intervene with students whose learning styles did not match the school's predominantly verbal-auditory methods. A School Assessment Team produced a program to be implemented in regular class settings. A case of a second grader illustrates the value of suggested teaching strategies. (CL)

Alberta Education provides funding to school authorities to support the development and implementation of programming for students with severe disabilities. The Handbook for the Identification and Review of Students with Severe Disabilities presents case studies to assist school authorities in identifying students who may be eligible for special…

This report presents findings of an audit of the New York State Education Department's Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID). The audit concluded that VESID oversight of school districts may not be adequately targeting formal reviews of special education programs to those districts that pose the…

In 1998 and 1999, the Arkansas State Department of Education annual state census of deaf-blind children found none in a seven-county section of southeast Arkansas--a rural area that includes the Mississippi River delta region. A project investigated the idea that unique cultural characteristics of the region might prevent parents from identifying…

This brochure, in a question-and-answer format, provides basic information about learning disabilities for faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The questions address such topics as the definition of a learning disability, diagnostic criteria, documentation criteria, verifying the legitimacy of a student's request for…

One of the major goals of the Jamaican Early Stimulation Project is to develop a low cost model for providing early identification of disability and intervention services. Journal availability: see EC 133 861. (Author)

Noting a high incidence of learning disabilities among students with visual impairments, this article compares definitions of the two conditions. Common assessment approaches are discussed and those inappropriate for students with low vision or blindness are identified. Suggested intervention approaches include adaptation of the environment,…

This article describes the development of the Preschool Taxonomy of Problem Situations (PTOPS). An examination of the PTOPS using a clinical sample of 42 maltreated children (ages 2-5) indicated the PTOPS subscales were high in internal reliability and were highly convergent with subscales of the Preschool Behavior Questionnaire. (Contains…

This study reports on the standardization of the Scale for Assessing Emotional Disturbance. Data collected on 2,266 typical students (ages 5- 18) and 1,371 students with emotional disturbances led to the identification of six behavioral problem factors that correspond to the federal definition of emotional disturbance and were highly internally…

This article addresses the need for very early identification of hearing loss; summarizes federal and state government involvement in early identification of hearing loss; compares common screening methods; explains the use of Transient Evoked Otoacoustic Emissions (TEOAE) with newborns; reviews existing TEOAE screening programs; and urges…

This article reviews the structure, development, function, and assessment of the visual system and then considers: common eye problems of young children with visual impairment; impacts of severe impairment on child development; and the roles of early intervention professionals, ophthalmologists, and pediatricians in working with these children and…