The author reports on a collaborative effort among three state agencies that is currently giving 3,000 California youth who are disabled a chance to prove themselves in private sector job placements. Discusses program administration, funding, computerized recordkeeping, entrance requirements, and plans for the future. (CT)

This guide provides parents of children with special needs information on opportunities to develop and apply leadership skills in Colorado. Introductory material considers the nature of parent leadership, the various roles of parent leaders, and ways to learn leadership skills. The next section describes specific parent leadership opportunities at…

This paper reports on an evaluation of Florida's McKay Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities, which makes a school voucher available to any special education student. The program currently serves 9,202 students out of 375,000 eligible special education students. Based on two telephone surveys (one of parents currently using a McKay…

The article is based on the report of the Massachusetts Vocational Rehabilitation Planning Commission. (JM)

A study determined the extent to which the states and territories used their handicapped and disadvantaged set-aside funds under the Education Amendments of 1976 to support program improvement projects. The population of 57 research coordinating unit directors was surveyed. (Author)

A survey of administrators, paraprofessionals, and teachers was undertaken to study the impact of Kansas' statewide training program for special education paraprofessionals. Results revealed that a large number of paraprofessionals and supervisors were not aware of the training program, despite a general feeling that inservice paraprofessional…

This article briefly describes the Facilities and Information Network Development (FIND) project being implemented by the Alabama Governor's Office of State Planning and Federal Programs to provide an economical state-coordinated system of resources and services to the handicapped. (SJL)

Analysis of early intervention expenditure data for 157 children in Massachusetts revealed an enormous variability in the total expenditure per child estimate. The study identified specific child, family, and program characteristics as predictors of different types of service hours. Difficulty in using one mean expenditure figure for planning is…

A study examined the rate of participation of Hawaiian students with disabilities in state-wide assessments in grades three, six, eight, and ten. Results found that roughly 64% of all students with disabilities were assessed in 1995. Most students who were excluded from testing were those with severe disabilities. (Author/CR)

Federal regulations (U.S. Department of Education, 2007a) provide states with the flexibility to offer an alternate assessment based on modified academic achievement standards (AA-MAS). This assessment option is for a small group of students with disabilities who can make significant progress, but may not reach grade-level achievement within the…

The "Colorado Children's Budget" presents and analyzes investments and spending trends during the past five state fiscal years on services that benefit children. The "Children's Budget" focuses mainly on state investment and spending, with some analysis of federal investments and spending to provide broader context of state…

Two advertisements and two brochures for the California Search and Serve program are presented in this excerpt from the California Search and Serve "Search Guidelines and Resource Manual." The materials are designed to promote community involvement in the identification of handicapped persons, from birth through age 21, so that they may…

The study compared the effectiveness of the Washington State High Priority Infant Tracking Project in maintaining high risk infants in continuing health care, determining health and developmental outcomes, and surveying the use of community resources with other state tracking projects. The project identifies infants during the first 30 days of…

The manual contains policies and procedures assuring all Oklahoma handicapped children the right to a free, appropriate public education. The manual establishes minimum standards for program approval, minimum standards for the determination of pupil eligibility, and considerations which will lead to appropriate programming within the least…

The report presents evaluation findings for California's Project Workability, designed to enable handicapped high schoolers to become more employable. The report focuses on the coordination among the three agencies involved in the project: the State Department of Education, the Department of Rehabilitation, and the Employment Development…