This document reports on development of a comprehensive system for measuring the ongoing development of children with disabilities from birth to age 8. A multi-step process was used to identify a set of general growth outcomes for children in this age range and to begin formulating individualized indicators of growth and development, as well as…

The National Reporting System (NRS) established reporting requirements for the adult education program required by Title II of the Workforce Investment Act. The NRS defines the measures local programs must collect, the methodologies for collecting them, and state reporting requirements. This document presents the guidelines for conducting the NRS…

This report is the outcome of study group that investigated best practices for serving individuals who are deaf and low functioning. It is designed to help State Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Agencies assist individuals with disabilities in securing competitive employment and is meant to be a source for innovative ideas for program development…

This final report describes accomplishments and activities of a four-year federally funded Rhode Island project for children who are deaf blind. Major accomplishments included: (1) parents (of 65 identified individuals) received greater access to an increased number and variety of support resources; (2) professionals linked to individuals with…

This classroom assessment tool for grades 4-6 offers teachers a method to quickly identify the needs of migrant, language-different, and mobile students in language arts, mathematics, and science in relation to national content standards. The Snapshot System asks the student to perform a series of tasks that are keyed to content standards and…

Designed for general and special education administrators, teachers, and other education professionals, this book offers a "big picture" of high expectations, assessment, and accountability for students with significant disabilities. Chapters focus on the following eight steps involved in the development and administration of alternate…

This paper discusses the results of a study that investigated the validity and reliability of the Ecology Rating Scale (ERS). The ERS is a brief, multi-dimensional level-of-functioning instrument that can be rated by parents or clinicians. The ERS is comprised of seven domains of youth functioning: family, school, emotional, legal/justice,…

This booklet opens with a list of the features that society now demands from higher education and then describes approaches to assessing the community college mission. Twenty-first century expectations for higher education are being shaped by: (1) a change in focus from teaching to learning; (2) the need to base credentials on demonstrated…

This document presents step-by-step guidelines to help communities and organizations implement youth-led research, evaluation, and planning (Youth REP) as a way of empowering youth to participate in community development and social transformation. The guide offers an overview of youth-led research and evaluation project stages and critical…

The Newspaper Division of the proceedings contains the following 22 papers: "Framing Freedom: Hoosier Republican and Democratic Newspaper Editors Frame Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation" (David W. Bulla); "Quantifying Newspaper Quality: 'I Know It When I See It'" (Philip Meyer and Koang-Hyub Kim); "Cultural Convergence:…

This document shares a vision for a 4-year curriculum for Heritage Speakers of Spanish (HSS)/Spanish for Native Speakers (SNS), describing a course developed for SNS students within Mercy High School in San Francisco, California. The vision foresees an ever-increasing number of HSS and SNS students completing college level degree programs then…

This paper presents a complex, hybrid, method of cost analysis of online courses, which incorporates data on expenditures; student/course enrollment; departmental consumption/contribution; space utilization/opportunity costs; direct non-personnel costs; computing support; faculty/staff workload; administrative overhead at the department, dean, and…

This monograph, part of a series on student assessment, reports on the results of a national survey that examined institutional support for undergraduate student assessment. It provides a national profile of student assessment initiatives at baccalaureate institutions and compares it to assessment practices and support patterns found in all types…

Although the emphasis elsewhere is on learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder as possible causal factors for high dropout rates and associated student deficiencies in adult education (AE), a project explored an alternative etiology: intention deficit disorder. The hypothesis was that higher level "executive" regulatory…

This publication identifies the front-line lessons learned to date on the role of education in the next phase of welfare reform. It presents the voices of leading welfare administrators, educators, business people, and current and former welfare recipients. Part 1, "Identifying the Issues," presents "The Case for Investing in…