The author describes the development of a pet therapy program at a rehabilitation unit of a hospital. She discusses documentation of the success of pet therapy programs, picking out the right pets, responsibilities of caring for the pet, training the pet, patient response, and program policies. (CT)

Describes a survey of vocational teachers of the year, in which they were asked to rank the most and the least satisfying aspects of teaching, the most effective ways to encourage good teaching; and what causes low staff morale. (CT)

Cognitive behavior modification (CBM), Direct Instruction (DI), and holistic approaches to the education of students with learning disabilities are compared for purposes of identifying similarities and differences in instructional practice. Comparative discussions are organized around four distinctions: specific vs. general, bottom-up vs.…

Revealed sixth grade is the optimal time to provide education for smoking prevention. Sixth graders are characterized by a relative lack of knowledge of the effects of smoking, unfamiliarity with parents' attitudes, and evidence that many students in this grade intend to smoke within the next five years. (Author/BL)

Forty-two students (aged 8 to 12) with developmental learning disabilities who had or had not participated in a one year evaluation of the Tomatis Listening Training Program, completed a battery of tests assessing intelligence, academic achievement, linguistic skills, and other traits. Results failed to support the educational effectiveness of the…

Meta-analysis was used to statistically integrate the findings of 30 studies of language intervention efficacy in mentally retarded preschool children. Results indicated that (1) intervention has positive, immediate gains for retarded children and that (2) significant neurological involvement may impede intervention success. (Author/DB)

Compared two teacher stress management techniques, collaborative behavior consultation (CBC) and relaxation training. Analyses of perceived teacher stress levels before intervention, after intervention, and at the follow-up assessment period revealed greater maintenance of effectiveness for the CBC group than for a control group. Such an ongoing…

Presents an account of a collaboration between adult education and commerce--adult programs held in and promoted by a bookshop. Discusses placement of the activities, program events (information, advice, and enrollment), future plans, and evaluation of the program. (CT)

Describes the Ethnic Student Training Group (ESTG) which helps university counseling center staff learn to counsel ethnic students more effectively. Members gain knowledge and skills by participating in numerous training activities including case presentations, through brief lectures on cross-cultural issues, and by counseling ethnic students. (BH)

Describes Ovation, an integrated software system with a common command environment of 26 English words which provides access to all of the system's capabilities and handles spreadsheet analysis, information management, word processing, graphics, and communications in the same workspace. Capabilities of Ovation's applications and features…

Presents some recent developments in the evaluation of crime prevention and control programs, including the increased use of process evaluation models. Describes the nature, methods, and advantages of the idiographic (or single subject) model as used in social work. (JAC)

Examination of an early intervention program featuring combination home- and center-based, transdisciplinary team services for children with moderate to severe disabilities and their parents indicated statistically significant positive behavioral changes for both children and their parents. No relationship was found, however, between amount of…

The article reports the methodology and results of a two-year program evaluation effort to determine effectiveness of an early intervention program for disabled infants and preschool children. Overall, the results indicated the intervention program had a positive impact on participating children and their parents. (Author/CL)

A review of 17 studies on tutoring behaviorally disordered students revealed that tutoring can have a positive effect on both the tutor's and the tutee's academic achievement and can increase social relations of the tutoring dyad as well as attitudes toward content area. However, ancedotal reports of improved general social functioning, are not…

The Vermont Consulting Teacher program, based on the triadic model of consultation, trains consulting teachers to deliver instruction via training classroom teachers. Six modules are described: (1) consultation training, (2) workshop training, (3) systems analysis, (4) research, (5) training a change agent, and (6) Individualized Education Program…