This guide for North Dakota parents provides an overview of the special education process and the rights of students with disabilities and their families. Section 1, "The Special Education Process," provides answers to questions on the following topics that parents might have about the special education process: special education…

GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) is a federally funded program aimed at encouraging disadvantaged middle and high school students to have high expectations, stay in school, and take college preparatory courses. The West Virginia Department of Education received funding to conduct the program in eight rural…

Noting children's need for enrichment at home, this book offers hundreds of unusual ways for children and parents to spend time together. Using this book as a guide, parents and children can survey new subjects ranging from cultural diversity to photography, journal keeping, psychology, food science, gardening, and sports science. The activities…

This study investigated how economically and sociologically underprivileged students readied themselves for college, highlighting factors affecting the lowest socioeconomic status (SES) students' chances to: secure college qualifications, graduate from high school, and apply to four-year institutions. Data from the 1998 National Educational…

This book helps teachers develop personal plans of action to handle classroom discipline, offering progressive Plan A and Plan B strategies. Plan A strategies take seconds to implement. Plan B strategies take more time but are designed to turn around specific attitudes and behaviors. After an introduction, there are 9 chapters: (1) "Misbehaviors…

Public discussion of American education centers on crisis and decline. In response to these sentiments, citizens are fast abandoning all forms of local control over schools. Schools are controlled by increasingly distant experts. Some people think that this new direction is necessary because the schools have failed academically. On the contrary,…

In 1998-99, Title I provided funding to 50 schools in the Austin Independent School District (AISD), Texas (43 elementary, 5 middle, and 2 high schools) with 60% or more students from low-income families. This report contains several analyses of the impact of Title I funds on student achievement. Students at non-Title I schools and at district…

Recognizing the importance of parents' involvement in their child's education and the belief that lack of teacher training and experience in working with parents affects what teachers do to involve families in their schools, this study examined the impact of a teacher education model on preservice teachers' and inservice teachers' (program…

This practicum was designed to increase the literacy growth of kindergarten students through the use of developmentally appropriate emergent literacy practices. The kindergarten language arts curriculum did not meet the diverse literacy needs of the kindergarten students. The goal of the practicum was to meet the diverse literacy needs of the…

This guide on transition services for Minnesota students with disabilities provides parents with information on student's rights and responsibilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that is available, how to obtain it, and how to improve the system to provide for transition needs that are not being met. Separate…

A school health program is usually thought of as comprising three broad areas: (1) health education, including both separate and integrated instruction; (2) healthful school environment, including both physical and social aspects; and (3) school health services. The study reported here deals with the school health service area of the school health…

The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory profiled 12 schools in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana that had made significant improvement in student achievement. While specifics of reform may vary, research shows that it is an ongoing process of determining goals and benchmarks by conducting needs assessments, using data to guide…

This report summarizes evaluation results for some of AISD's parent and community involvement efforts during school year 2000-2001.

This report summarizes the 2001-2002 program evaluation results of AISD's GEAR UP program.

To serve exceptional students effectively, all professionals involved must share responsibilities as members of a team. Other issues facing special education professionals include feelings of territoriality, opposition to mainstreaming, and strategies for change. (CJ)