This article describes a demonstration project that utilized 28 community early childhood programs as intervention placements for 30 preschool-age children with disabilities. Results suggested significant developmental gains for all children. Service delivery characteristics identified as necessary for the effective implementation of intervention…

A systematic approach to curriculum development for students with severe disabilities enrolled in extended school year programs is described. The approach is community driven, consistent with student Individualized Education Program objectives, tailored to the individual student, and teaches functional skills performed by individuals without…

Essentially an application of installment purchase concepts to higher education, the Zero Cash Plan allows students without cash from family resources for room, board, and tuition to attend Cazenovia College (New York) by deferring parent contributions until after graduation. The program has evolved to meet changing student and institution needs.…

This article describes a points-and-levels system to improve behavior of students with learning and behavioral disabilities in an upper-elementary special education setting. The four levels each involved specified responsibilities and privileges and students earned specified numbers of points to qualify for a "successful day" and eventual…

The concept of quality of life currently impacts program development, service delivery, management strategies, and outcome evaluation in the area of intellectual disabilities. Maryland uses peer interviewers to assess consumer-perceived quality of life among adult recipients of MR/DD services and supports. In this article we describe the survey…

Youth work is a field that has moved from a sole focus on the treatment of youth problems to their prevention, and more recently, the promotion of normal, healthy development. Concurrent with this trend to a more comprehensive approach to youth services (one that serves a continuum from promotion to prevention to short- and long-term treatment)…

Several years ago intermediaries in Boston were challenged to build a continuum of training around a shared set of competencies for those who work with young people ages five to twenty-two during the out-of-school-time hours. After receiving a few small planning grants, local intermediaries teamed up with large youth-serving organizations to…

Professional development practices implemented in rural school systems have often led nowhere. These practices seem to produce adult learning activities with few results other than participants' mounting frustration and another innovation left by the wayside. To encourage the development of productive professional development, many studies are…

This discussion paper is part of a larger Movement for Canadian Literacy (MCL) project entitled "Linkages: Connecting Literacy and English as a Second Language" (ESL). The goal of the overall project is for MCL to work with national organizations that support the ESL/Settlement and literacy fields to identify common issues and concerns…

This publication is part of a series of tools and resources on financing and sustaining youth programming. These tools and resources are intended to help policymakers, program developers, and community leaders develop innovative strategies for implementing, financing, and sustaining effective programs and policies. This strategy brief presents a…

This report reflects the first year of a multiyear effort to examine B.A. completion cohort programs in early care and education in four California counties. The six programs under investigation were developed with similar goals: (1) To increase and retain a pool of B.A.-level professionals in the ECE field with culturally, linguistically, and…

In developing the 1999-2000 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), a special effort was made to include questions that would help determine the extent to which the characteristics of professional development policies and practices were consistent with the emerging consensus on the key features of professional development as described by Hawley and…

State-level policy support for teacher induction programs can help teachers realize their full potential, keep them in the profession, promote greater student learning, and save money. Higher education institutions and school districts must work together to provide high-quality and well-designed induction programs. This issue of "Policy Matters,"…

This study investigates the impact of activities done in the basic education sub-sector by a consortium of four non-government organizations in four provinces in Afghanistan from January 2004 to June 2005. The evaluation uses the project objectives and components as the evaluation framework, and data collected through survey questionnaires,…

This article describes how a group of small liberal arts college faculty embraced the opportunity to create a faculty learning circle as an alternative professional development program. We provide a review of the program, discuss the lessons learned, and offer recommendations for future efforts in developing a similar faculty development program.…