This paper discusses the importance of interagency coordination in developing services for young children with handicaps and their families. It suggests strategies to improve the functioning of interagency coordinating councils by considering council membership, role definition, goal commitment, vision of the early intervention system, and use of…

This study found that 47 mildly handicapped third graders in a full-time integrated program, Team Approach to Mastery (TAM), experienced greater achievement gains than 31 students in resource rooms, though differences were significant only in math. Nonhandicapped TAM students (n=176) made greater gains than mildly handicapped TAM students and…

Discusses three measurement approaches to assessing quality of life for individuals with disabilities (quality of life as measure of life satisfaction across life domains, measure of adaptive functioning/environmental mastery, and measure of changes in response to services provided). Provides examples of approaches and discusses implications for…

An 18-month study of 18 children with disabilities attending inclusionary programs and 19 children (ages 24 months) attending classrooms in rehabilitation programs serving only children with disabilities, found that after one year of intervention there was no difference in developmental progress between the two groups of children. (Author/CR)

Draws on child-care-quality research to inform our understanding of quality in early-intervention services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and their families. Presents conceptual issues in defining quality and methodological challenges for assessing quality of early-intervention services. Discusses efforts to design a measure of quality…

Discusses the relationship between research and social and political policies, and proposes three major topics which need systematic and in-depth study: cultural and linguistic differences among children that impact their school experiences, the effectiveness of programs/interventions with children with exceptionalities, and long-term consequences…

Examines the effect of "Career Placement Project" which uses enhanced career services specifically designed for community college students with disabilities. Examines career exploration, job readiness, job-seeking skills, and job shadowing. Data suggest that Career Placement Project is effective in increasing the career preparedness of…

Describes a training program implemented by the Arkansas Department of Education-Special Education designed to assist schools in developing and implementing inclusive policies and practices within a school. Finds that the program is having a positive influence in creating more inclusive programming for students with disabilities. Offers…

A study examined the outcomes for 140 graduates of the Threshold Program at Lesley University, Massachusetts, a non-degree post-secondary program which aims to help young adults with severe learning disabilities and low-average IQ develop independent living skills. Sixty-nine percent of graduates are living independently and 82 percent are…

Develops a predictive model to assess early intervention programs' efficacy and applies it to longitudinal data from a small sample of moderately handicapped infants. Preliminary findings suggest that early intervention results in a reduced need for special-education services in subsequent years. Benefit-cost issues related to program efficacy are…

Reports the results of three studies conducted to determine the efficacy of the Early Literacy Project in improving the reading performances of elementary students with mild disabilities. Results indicate the program has been effective in accelerating literacy learning and can be integrated into the general education curriculum. (Author/CR)

A multicomponent intervention package that included providing information to classmates about a communication system and adapted curriculum and materials, utilizing various media designed to foster interaction, and teacher facilitation of social exchanges, increased the social inclusion of three elementary-aged students with disabilities in…

The National Sports Education Camps Project (NSEC), a joint partnership between Western Michigan University and the United States Association of Blind Athletes, provides short-term interventions to teach sports to children with visual impairments. A study comparing 321 students with visual impairments, ranging in age from 8 to 19 years, before and…

The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of empirical studies published in the last 5 years in a sample of special education peer-reviewed journals that: (1) assessed the effects of reading and math interventions with group designs and; (2) used random assignment to treatment conditions to test those interventions. A hand search…

Relationship quality (rapport) between people with developmental disabilities and their caregivers has long been suggested as an important variable influencing the likelihood of problem behavior. However, to date, the association between rapport and problem behavior has not been systematically investigated. The authors evaluated a multimethod…