The reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), signed on December 3, 2004, required that, not later than one year after the date of enactment of the reauthorized IDEA, each state is required to have in place a performance plan evaluating the state's implementation of Part B and describing how the state will improve such…

The booklet is designed to help parents understand how they can help in the development of their gifted children. Included are such topics as the characteristics of giftedness; the four "faces" of gifted adolescents (high achieving studious, social leader, creative intellectual, and rebel); the role of parents; a checklist for assessing the…

Opinions of professionals from 16 agencies were obtained to identify techniques that agencies serving adults or adolescents with mental retardation could utilize to provide systematic sex education and counseling. Recommendations are offered in five areas: self-advocacy and self-determination, individual design, staff training and support,…

Despite barriers such as apathy, lack of training, home problems, and demographic and ethnic factors, vocational and special educators need to involve parents in setting goals and determining strategies that will help handicapped adolescents become qualified workers. (SK)

This report discusses some "promising" compensatory education programs and presents statistical estimates which identify the disadvantaged population to be served by such programs. The discussion is based on observations of school systems and programs in all sections of the country and on interviews with over 200 educational administrators who…

This article defines standards for developing Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) for gifted students. Recommendations for developing annual goals and short-term learning objectives that are complex, open-ended, flexible, and yet measurable for purposes of assessment and accountability. Parent involvement before, after, and during IEP…

Teacher-parent collaborative consultation can be useful in planning appropriate vocational programs for adolescents with disabilities. Such consultation can involve informing parents of vocational opportunities, planning vocational assessment and collecting vocational information, developing vocational components of individualized education plans,…

The documents make up the final report and executive summary of the Special Teens and Parents (STP) study which investigated the impact of certain provisions of P.L. 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) on 16 learning disabled secondary students and their parents. Part I of the final report describes the study design (a…

In addition to analyzing the basic policy issues inherent in the provision of special education and related services to handicapped and adjudicated youth, the paper is written to assist corrections personnel in understanding and implementing selected provisions of P.L. 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act), to develop policy…

Secondary special education programs should include employment or postsecondary education placement outcomes in the curricula for mainstreamed mildly handicapped students. Program elements that support these goals are: individualized transition plans; paid work experience; job-seeking skills curriculum; flexible staffing patterns; active…

Part of a series designed to provide practical resources on topics essential to the process of preparing individuals with disabilities for adulthood, this manual focuses on family involvement in transition planning and implementation. Chapter 1, "Overview and Introduction," discusses the history of family involvement in education, and the…