Needs assessment is presented as a scanning process to identify if and where interventions are required in the educational setting and also to build and support successful implementation of those processes. Themes or perspectives, which provide a general framework for the work of a needs assessment team, are outlined. Within this framework, needs…

The way to the future may well be through America's gifted and talented youth. High technology demands the talents of these young people. Gifted and talented students are multitalented. They have many interests and the curiosity and persistence to pursue them. Many are especially interested in technical subjects. Vocational education can offer…

A project entitled Showcase of Excellence in New York State Postsecondary Occupational Education involved the design and development of a statewide strategy to promote linkages among vocational programs at two-year colleges throughout the state. Included among the objectives of phase 2 of the project were the following: determination of the most…

This guide for parents and professionals is one of three documents recommended for use in the development of a local level linkage system for the referral of severely handicapped students from education to rehabilitation. An introductory section includes a discussion of right versus entitlement. The first section provides general information…

While technological advances have transformed man's social and cultural environment and increased the interconnection between individuals and cultures, they have not in themselves led to a deeper understanding of other cultures. Educational programs can play an important role in remedying this defect and in developing students' sensitivity to…

The paper identifies important issues and trends to individualize education for gifted learners with educationally significant handicaps. Literature is reviewed in terms of five ways to understand modifying educational practice: (1) definitions (language used to order and organize knowledge and policies for service delivery) and designations…

Since spring 1979 numerous changes in Humanities offerings and operations have been discussed, agreed upon, and implemented at Clark College to revitalize enrollments and increase faculty energy levels. The process of change was based upon four principles: (1) the faculty perceived the need to change, wanted to explore the potential benefits of…

"Language Skills in English," a three-year project designed to explore the application of mastery learning techniques to solve the reading and writing problems of secondary school students in Scotland, is discussed in this paper. Background information provided in the first section of the paper concerns the context of the project, its…

Home-school visits, as one part of a program of home-school-community relations, have three primary benefits: they familiarize parents and other members of the community with the school's program, they aid school staff members in understanding the socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds of their students, and they identify potential community…

The use of awards to stimulate activities designed to help women in education is considered. Using the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business award as a model, attention is directed to why awards are important, who can give them and to whom, and how to develop an awards program. An award or prize is defined as any form of recognition…

As the purposes of colleges change and adapt, so too should college staff have the opportunities to change and adapt. Faculty development can help provide these opportunities, while at the same time meeting demands of accountability and fostering curricular and instructional innovation. The goals of faculty development in the Houston Community…

In discussing the improvement of schools by using research and development findings, two different outcomes of a change program are considered. One is the effective implementation of new programs through use of available knowledge. The second is the broader issue of achieving school improvement through making the organization more healthy, the…

The Data-Based Staff Development Program is an integral feature of the Adaptive Learning Environments Model (ALEM), an educational program developed to provide basic skills learning experiences that are adaptive to the individual learning needs of students. The Data-Based Staff Development Program was designed to assist school personnel…

In recent years the American higher education enterprise has made a dramatic effort to attract the adult student. This effort has largely been based on economic necessity, since the numbers of traditionally aged college students (18-22) have fallen. Extension and continuing education for adult students is not completely new to higher education,…

This first volume of the interim report on the Study of New Youth Initiatives in Apprenticeship presents a discussion of site visit findings and implementation issues related to the United States Department of Labor's Apprenticeship-School Linkage Demonstrations. (Volume 2, site visit reports, is available separately as CE 032 792.) Chapter 1…