The Family-Centered Interdisciplinary Preservice Training Program in Early Intervention at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is providing training to professionals that fully integrates parent involvement. Student activities include a curricular focus on family-centered early intervention, hands-on activities building interdisciplinary team…

A study that videotaped 12 Mexican-American and 12 Anglo-American junior high school students with learning disabilities while they wrote stories in ethnically heterogeneous and homogeneous dyads, found students were skilled in maintaining positive and assertive reciprocal interactions whether they were paired with partners of the same or…

Highlights similarities and differences between the art making of normally developing and mentally retarded individuals. Defines pathological art as outsider art that can never be creative in the sense of relating to the artistic domain and engaging in a creative dialog with other artists that shape that domain. (MJP)

Discusses the discrepancies among physicians, psychologists, and schools regarding the diagnosis and treatment of attention deficit disorders. Stresses the need for all evaluations to include cross-disciplinary cooperation, and for the acceptance of standardized measures as part of the identification and treatment process. (CR)

Reports on a survey of elementary, middle, high school, and university science teachers. Results indicate that teacher education programs reflect little commitment to preparing or in-servicing science teachers to work effectively with students who have disabilities. Contains 31 references. (DDR)

Considers how the State Systems Change granting process has emerged as way to promote systemic educational reform. It identifies similarities and differences among three major systems change initiatives in special education (i.e., transition), vocational education (i.e., school-to-work), and general education (i.e., Goals 2000). (DB)

This study evaluated a professional development program for 179 Australian teachers, teacher aides, and speech pathologists working with students having severe disabilities. Emphasis was on their role as communication partners in the implementation of strategies to enhance students' communicative behavior. Teachers and teacher aides reported…

Presents the case study of a teacher-in-training who is partially bilingual and has experienced severe problems with auditory memory and auditory processing speed, resulting in poor performance in reading and writing. Because of her concerns for people with such language-related learning disabilities, she is becoming a teacher. (Author/MSE)

Understanding prospective employees' rights (under the 1964 Civil Rights Act and other federal legislation prohibiting discriminatory practices) can help principals protect themselves, their schools, and their districts from litigation. Scenarios are described, along with permissible staff-selection steps: position analysis, recruitment,…

Studied kindergarten children's emergent motivation to read and write, its relation to developing concepts of reading and writing, and it relation to their teachers instructional goals and classroom norms. Findings extend understanding of how young children's literacy motivation influences, and is influenced by, their classroom literacy culture.…

A course at the University of Lethbridge (Alberta) uses student portfolios of social and cultural perspectives on disabilities to challenge rural preservice teachers' attitudes toward disabilities and the philosophy of inclusion. Elements of the portfolio are described. The particular value of this method for rural preservice teachers and the…

This article discusses three important issues that educators must address as they integrate technology into their classrooms: increasing access to technology, appropriate instruction in and use of technology, and barriers to institutional technology. Tips for creating technology-rich schools and classrooms and for improving technology integration…

This article discusses the challenges faced by a first-year special education teacher at a public high school. Challenges included issues such as behavior management, deciding what to teach, scheduling and time, working with a paraprofessional, collaboration and mainstreaming versus inclusion, paperwork and meetings, and training and support.…

This article describes the DT Trainer, a software tool and behavioral teaching method which breaks down the learning of a task into small steps, giving the student a very high chance of success. Students are motivated to succeed with this program through ample praise statements and other on-screen reinforcers. (Contains three references.) (CR)

This longitudinal study first administered the Uzgiris and Hunt scales (to predict learning of manual signs) to 34 children (mean age 5) with severe and profound mental retardation. Evaluation four years later indicated that achievement of stage five on the Uzgiris and Hunt scales was necessary for even minimal learning and use of manual signs.…