This practicum developed a program to help students with disabilities to locate adequate employment, utilize community services, and live independently in the community. Practicum activities involved developing a comprehensive K-12 vocational curriculum, developing a policies and procedures manual for competitive/supportive employment, increasing…

An elementary school teacher implemented a practicum designed to: (1) provide a curriculum for a before and after school day care program serving primary school students; and (2) solve problems encountered in the implementation of a pilot school-age child care program. A review of the literature indicated that few curriculums had been developed…

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…

This practicum was developed to increase the quality of child care offered by family daycare providers on a military base in the western United States. Providers were to improve their developmentally appropriate practices (DAP) by following a daily activity schedule, setting up enriched home environments, writing and implementing curricula, and…

A practicum is reported that was designed to organize collaborative efforts among primary, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), and bilingual teachers at an elementary school with a 1,200-student enrollment. The school had seen a transition from a white, middle-class to a racially mixed and transient community, with large segments from…

This practicum report is a structured account of efforts to improve student test scores and maximize the use of available test data in two rural Florida schools. This practicum was designed to evaluate the meaningfulness and use of Florida's State Student Assessment Test (SSAT) to teachers of second and third grade students. The SSAT is required…

A program was developed at a local college to provide directors of child care centers, Head Start programs, nursery schools, and school-based early childhood programs with formal training in administration, supervision, and program development to help them better manage their programs. The program was the result of a collaborative effort by…

To address an unacceptable failure and withdrawal rate in an introductory psychology course at Ulster County Community College (UCCC), in New York, a project was undertaken to develop a Learning Assistance in Psychology course to help students with skills and concepts. First, a literature review indicating the need for remediation highlighted the…

In response to low completion rates in a calculus course for a biology, management, and social sciences program at California's Orange Coast College (OCC), a project was undertaken to develop a revised course outline for the college's pre-calculus course to better prepare students for success in calculus. Specifically, the project sought to…

A child caregiver developed a substance abuse intervention and prevention program for preschool children between 2 and 5 years of age who were at risk for substance abuse. The practicum effort resulted in a preschool substance abuse curriculum that included information on drugs, offered techniques for enhancing self-esteem, and discussed skills…

A kindergarten teacher designed and implemented a practicum for increasing the oral language competence of 20 kindergartners in an inner-city public school. Goals were to improve children's receptive and expressive language abilities, social skills, and mastery of kindergarten curriculum objectives, and to increase parent involvement. A whole…

A business and education partnership model addressed a shortage of local, qualified, entry-level, technically skilled workers through a school-to-work apprenticeship program at the North Montco Technical Career Center in Lansdale, Pennsylvania. The research-based solution plan of the Pennsylvania Youth Apprenticeship Program (PYAP) included three…

An early childhood resource teacher implemented a practicum intervention designed to improve the school attendance of at-risk kindergartners and first and second graders in a low-income, inner-city area in central Florida. The intervention involved the transformation of self-contained, graded classrooms into primary units comprised of multi-age…

As part of a restructuring initiative to meet the curriculum needs of the "Information Age," a plan for teaching telecommunications to middle school students was developed. The resulting program, called Bulletin Board Simulator (BBS), provided a hands-on approach to teaching students the skills necessary for accessing an electronic…

A resource teacher working at an elementary school located on a military reservation implemented an 8-week practicum intervention designed to improve the critical thinking skills of 16 third graders. A task force composed of resource and classroom teachers, a guidance counselor, a reading curriculum supervisor, a school psychologist, a principal,…