This book is the second of four volumes in a directory of more than 1,000 discretionary grants and contracts supported by the Research to Practice Division of the Office of Special Education Programs. This volume focuses on projects concerned with personnel preparation and designed to help address state-identified needs for qualified personnel in…

This helpful resource will speed the mapping effort along and apply curriculum mapping to special situations. In this book teachers and administrators offer concrete advice on how to get the most out of curriculum mapping in districts and schools: (1) Steps to implementing mapping procedures and leading the mapping process; (2) Tools and resources…

This report describes activities and accomplishments of a 3-year federally supported project to develop, implement, and evaluate a model for training paraprofessionals to support students with disabilities in general education classrooms and those who direct and supervise their work. Training materials were developed with a high degree of…

This paper provides a case example of simple regression analysis, a forecasting procedure used to isolate the effects of training from an identified extraneous variable. This case example focuses on results of a three-day sales training program to improve bank loan officers' knowledge, skill-level, and attitude regarding solicitation and sale of…

This paper reviews selected literature on otitis media (OM) and its learning consequences in Aboriginal children in rural Australia and reports on a project to develop a community approach to the problem. Aboriginal people are the most disadvantaged group in Australia; have much poorer health and lower life expectancy than other Australians; and…

This study examined high-performing after-school projects funded by The After-School Corporation (TASC), to determine what characteristics, if any, these projects shared. Evaluators reanalyzed student performance data collected during the multi-year evaluation of the TASC initiative to identify projects where the after-school program was…

Many students with disabilities require testing accommodations in order to participate in testing programs on an equal basis with their nondisabled peers. Such accommodations provide students with the ability to demonstrate mastery of skills and attainment of knowledge without being limited or unfairly restricted due to the effects of a…

Aspects of the school environment and interactions in the larger school-community context that affect children's literacy were examined in a school located in a predominantly lower income urban community in the northeast where 97 percent of the students are African American, Jamaican, or Hispanic. Four dimensions of the literacy program were…

Improving the quality of management is widely cited as one of the keys to school improvement. In the United Kingdom, the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) identifies the quality of management at the headteacher and middle-management levels as an essential area for development. This book supports the personal and professional development required for…

This study investigated the efficacy of collaborative teaching in serving students with disabilities at all educational levels. Interviews were conducted with 14 building administrators, 103 general and special education teachers, 32 parents of general education students, 37 parents of special education students, and 53 general and 70 special…

Advocating the development of a new vision and strategies for lifelong learning in the multicultural workplace, this paper describes the influences of cultural issues on the human resource development (HRD) interface at a Japanese multinational firm operating in Canada. Following an introduction defining lifelong learning and related terms,…

Local school boards are responsible for the two most important issues in most people's lives--their money and their children. Why do school boards fail to develop into high-performance teams? Why do they often work as micromanagers rather than as moral and cultural leaders of their communities? This book explores the current state of board…

This monograph discusses a project involving 246 teachers that investigated a Staff Development Model (SDM) and a Research-Based Assessment Plan (RAP) for their potential to improve the identification and education of gifted students from economically disadvantaged families, some of whom have limited proficiency in the English language. The…

In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education declared that the United States was "at risk" due to a rising tide of mediocrity in public education. In the myriad educational reforms since this declaration, one recurrent theme in these efforts has been professional development. The critical significance of staff development in a…

This digest describes faculty and staff development as crucial elements for institutional effectiveness and quality. These programs allow faculty to improve instructional material, keep abreast of new technology and methods, and network with colleagues. When change takes place, perhaps through reorganization, restructuring, or a change in…