Nebraska's Educational Service Units (ESUs) are under threat of de-funding, consolidation, and even elimination. For too long, the ESUs have been an invisible asset to school districts, providing equity to our rural schools, and expertise to our more urban schools. ESUs work from the expectation of efficiency and effectiveness, to be good stewards…

This publication highlights how state leaders tackle data interoperability with the emergence of data standards for student information, assessment, digital content, and other educational applications. While states are at various maturity levels for interoperability, each state shares goals for interoperability, the drivers for those goals,…

Nebraska's Employment First (EF) program allows parents who receive TANF cash assistance to pursue education and training that improves their ability to secure employment and long-term economic success. A parent must negotiate and sign an Employment First contract, facilitated by a case worker, between the participating parent and the state of…

Presented are seven papers given at a conference on deinstitutionalization of the mentally handicapped which focus on protective services and citizen advocacy. Carol Sigelman stresses the following four concepts: follow-along (the monitoring of the developmentally disabled person in the community), advocacy, protection, and shelter, Alternatives…

Proceedings are presented from a 1980 conference on community based services for families of developmentaly disabled children. The following ten papers are included: "Leading Edge Services to Families of Persons with Developmental Disabilities" (R. Perske); "Family Resource Services and Support Systems for Families with Handicapped…

The report presents results from a survey of four states (Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, and Nebraska) regarding mandates for the provision of special education services for children below 3 years of age. An overview of each state's mandate contains a brief description of the law and how it came to be; an explanaton of the way responsibilities are…

This guide was developed for the purpose of providing Nebraska's educational agencies with documentation and a rationale for effectively utilizing paraprofessionals in special education. The guide provides examples of school policies which meet the intent of Nebraska law and may be utilized to improve the productivity and effectiveness of…