This follow-up study of a special demonstration project (Oregon, 1973) evaluates the placement of children in foster care by exploring the stability and quality of placements. The project included 509 children who were under 12 years of age, unlikely to return home, and adoptable. The following questions were investigated: (1) How does the…

In 1973 the Children's Services Division (Oregon State) initiated a project to reduce the backlog of children in indeterminate status by developing more Permanent alternative placements. This follow-up study evaluates the placements of foster children who returned to their parents, were adopted, or remained in foster care. A literature review…

Two methods (generic or specific) of assessing competency based teacher performance were compared in three studies with 158 special and regular teachers. Two classroom observation instruments - one designed to measure generic teaching competencies at all levels and across all subjects, the other developed for special education teachers only - were…

An empirical study was conducted using Navy trainees to evaluate the effectiveness of instructional modules designed to train Interior Communications electricians in the maintenance and repair of alarm and warning systems installed in ships to signal unsafe conditions. These modules, each containing six lessons, were developed to augment or…

The field of educational leadership faces serious challenges in the 21st century, such as the shortage of principals and superintendents, the growing demands for leadership positions, and the struggle for adequate resources. This paper explores the challenges facing this field from the position of university educational leadership preparation. The…

There is plentiful discussion about the importance of accountability, but much needs to be done to translate it into a manageable and credible system of ongoing feedback. In this book, evaluative inquiry is used in a way that balances attention between the investigation process and its purpose. The book is divided into three parts. Following an…

Due to the high stakes that my be attached to placement decisions, it is imperative that the placement process be as solid and defensible as possible. An integral part of the placement process is the identification and use of cut scores, the point(s) on the score scale that classify students into adjacent categories for placement decisions. This…

The Consumer-Validation approach to applying educational research in classroom settings is described. The model, developed in Murfreesboro (Tennessee), provides a way to disseminate research findings as well as to allow teachers to test the validity of findings drawn from classroom research. (CJ)

Describes a diversified approach to delivering home care to vulnerable older people. This pilot program, funded by the Massachusetts Department of Elder Affairs, attempted to reduce the demand for scarce homemaker services. Results suggest homecare diversification did not alter consumer satisfaction but increased manager time. (Author/JAC)

Compared perceptions of the residential environment of students who participated in painting their living units with those of nonparticipants. Participants perceived a high degree of commitment and friendliness from residents, while nonparticipants perceived their environments much less positively. Men showed more negative attitudes than women.…

This article discusses health fraud in special education. Psychopathology of health fraud, standards by which pseudoscience and quackery are defined, and the complexities of learning disorders are considered. A scale to determine whether an alternative therapy is reasonable is presented. Several popular therapies are used as examples. (Author/PB)

Evaluation of the clinical significance of a depression treatment program revealed that a substantial number of clients made reliable improvements; posttreatment scores fell within a functional distribution. Results suggest that highly structured interventions for outpatients with major depression can instill clinically meaningful changes in short…

PEECH (Programing for Early Education of Children with Handicaps) is a center-based program combining child-initiated and teacher-directed activities for children with mild to moderate disabilities, ages 3-5. Results of an evaluative study at the demonstration site and replication sites revealed participants' improvement in receptive and…

This paper argues that many social validity processes in applied behavior analysis are actually measuring consumer satisfaction and not the habilitative validity of goals, procedures, or outcomes. The term "habilitative validation" is proposed to replace social validity, and use of more objective assessment methods is encouraged.…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether data distribution changes as a result of motor skill practice or learning. The data on three dependent measures (movement time; MT), percentage of movement time in primary submovement (PSB), and movement jerk (JEK) were collected at baseline and practice Blocks 1 to 5. Sixty 6-year-olds,…