The progress school districts throughout New Jersey made in implementing a system of portfolio assessment and the factors that promoted or prohibited the implementation of this system were studied. In all, 262 teachers and 109 administrators completed and returned questionnaires on portfolio assessment. Findings indicate that teachers and…

At the request of the Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families, the General Accounting Office (GAO) examined programs and services funded at federal and state levels providing direct early childhood care and education for low-income children up to age 5 years. Also examined were state and local assessments of difficulties low-income parents…

Describes and evaluates efforts by North Carolina to assist school personnel in using computers and computer assisted instruction. Discusses a general statewide conference, eight follow-up hands-on regional workshops, follow-up application conferences, specialized planning sessions, and the implementation of a state coordinating project. (DC)

Discusses Florida's renewed interest in attracting and serving industry through the Industry Services Leadership Development Program to train school district and community college personnel to deliver industry services. Describes training workshops using self-paced models that have been conducted to launch the program through a multi-agency…

Emphasizes the effects of poverty, lack of education, and scarce medical resources (all prevalent in rural areas) which contribute to poor health conditions and practices for rural children. Available from: U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Rm. 456 GHI Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20250. (JD)

Describes Project ICES, a model for increasing the numbers of women holding administrative positions in Kansas's public school systems, the organizational characteristics that promoted conflict and participant stress, and the unplanned mechanism (organized anarchy) that reduced conflict. (Author/IRT)

Describes Wisconsin's cooperative education service agency program organized to help groups of small rural schools get special industrial education expertise that would be too costly for a single school to support. Presents K-12 curriculum descriptions for a cluster of five school districts with sequenced course content. (MF)

Under the Smart Start program, 19 of North Carolina's Appalachian counties have qualified for competitive state funding to improve community services to young children and their families. Programs tailored to local needs provide subsidized child care to children of working parents, preventive health screenings, literacy and high school equivalency…

Fifty states and five territories were surveyed to determine implementation of the federal Program for Infants and Toddlers with Handicaps, established through Public Law 99-457. Questions focused on the states' interagency coordinating councils, definitions of developmental delay, and activities related to the required minimal components of…

A survey of 66 chapters of a national autism society found that the availability of extended school year (ESY) services is increasing. Significant variation was found in how states determine eligibility, in the duration of ESY programs, and in the length of ESY days; parental dissatisfaction was also reported. (JDD)

A discussion of state grant programs for college students outlines the relationships between program goals and effects and the difficulties in designing appropriate and successful programs. Guidelines for assessing these interrelationships are offered to help policymakers design grant programs that can most efficiently and effectively achieve…

Policy questions related to outcome assessment, such as determining the critical outcomes of schooling and how indicators can be measured, are analyzed. State and local efforts in special education outcome assessment are described, and policy considerations for designing an outcome system that includes students with disabilities are examined. (JDD)

The Training Resource Unit is a New South Wales (Australia) community services initiative that provides services such as direct client training, career training, and consultation to individuals with severe intellectual disability and severe challenging behaviors. The service is provided in the person's place of residence, workplace, or school…

Lists the speakers and summarizes the issues addressed for 12 panel sessions on topics related to networking, including libraries and national networks, federal national resources and energy programs, multimedia issues, telecommuting, remote image serving, accessing the Internet, library automation, scientific information, applications of Z39.50,…