This report documents a study which used naturalistic procedures and a case study approach to examine and describe four early childhood special education programs and their decision making processes. Data collection procedures included: observation of meetings, classroom activities, screening, and assessment procedures; interviews with various…

Findings related to instructional intervention and decision making from four in-depth ecological case studies were integrated and analyzed. The case studies focused on four early childhood special education (ECSE) programs that were characterized by a variety of approaches to ECSE decision making and by urban, suburban, and rural locations. The…

Prepared to assist teachers who are using the case in class discussion, this case study describes a suburban, college-preparatory high school located in the pseudonymously named "Northwood," a midwestern "rust belt" city characterized by rapidly shifting demographics and a growing commercial tax base. Although the city is now…

This document combines a facilitator's manual designed to train candidates for Local School Councils (LSCs) and others who want to improve Chicago (Illinois) schools with fact sheets, worksheets, checklists, and case studies (in English and Spanish) to be used by participants in the leadership training program. The following goals are outlined in…

This report describes the Distance Learning Project North, which began in September 1988 in Alberta, Canada. The primary emphasis of the project was on increasing equity in educational opportunity and the focus was testing alternative distance education delivery systems which can be used to provide equitable, cost-effective education to the…

This review examines literature on the community's role in the achievement and psychosocial outcomes of disadvantaged students. It identifies three classes of factors as pertinent: community structure, community climate, and community involvement. Community characteristics were found to have only a weak effect on achievement at the individual…

This guide describes elements needed to enhance public and private sector involvement in child care. An introductory section defines the problem and outlines the elements of a comprehensive child care policy. Section II presents a policy matrix that serves as a guide to typical problems and solutions in the process of instituting…

This article includes excerpts from case studies of at-risk students. It discusses the basic conditions associated with being "at-risk," the high prevalence of at-risk students in rural areas, and the relationship of this phenomena to social structural changes, particularly in the rural United States. Necessary policy and social responses are…

This book is the result of the accumulated research of five researchers from the United States and Australia on a school in Coastal Australia. The research team shared a constructivist epistemology and interpreted the qualitative and quantitative data collected over a 10-week period in two classrooms from that perspective. Each chapter discusses…

This technical report is part of a series on AIDS/HIV (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome/Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and is intended to help link various legal advocacy organizations providing services to persons with mental illness or developmental disabilities. This paper examines AIDS policy issues in mental health institutions. The paper…

The case study is designed to be used with the inservice training program developed by the Child-Centered Inservice Training and Technical Assistance Network (Syracuse, New York), which provides services to professional and paraprofessional personnel working with students with severe disabilities receiving their education in regular education…

With the advent of Public Law 99-457, special educators may be expected to observe and/or serve on Hospital Ethics Committees (HECs) in order to better assist families who have seriously ill and handicapped infants and children. Issues considered by such committees include alternative viewpoints on infant euthanasia and their right to life, the…

The study on which this book is based examined the development of social relationships among black and white students in a new, desegregated urban middle school. In the initial phase, information was gathered from classroom observation, interviews, and a wide variety of supplementary sources over a three-year period beginning with summer…

This case study was prepared in conjunction with a Unesco survey of its member states concerning educational services for individuals with handicaps. The report discusses Yugoslavia's special education policy, legislation, administration and organization, special educational provision, finance, research and development, voluntary organizations,…

This case study presents a narrative summary of the evaluation of a two semester computer assisted instruction (CAI) project in an all minority high school. Use of PLATO software with Control Data microcomputers brought about modest achievement advantages, higher internal locus of control, more positive attitudes toward school and specific course…