Outlines activities planned by the 69 local development districts in the 11 member states to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Appalachian Regional Commission. Summarizes the results of a questionnaire sent to all local development districts to determine the commission's most important accomplishments and remaining needs. (NEC)

Describes Florida's Impaired Nurse Program, the goals of which are to protect the public from unsafe nursing care, to recognize chemical addiction as a treatable disease (thus conserving the valuable resource nursing represents to society), and to work to solve a problem that affects nurses nationwide. (CT)

The article describes a functional model for assessing family needs, specifying family goals, implementing family services, and evaluating effectiveness. The model draws on the "goodness-of-fit" concept to individualize family services to optimize the "fit" between family, child, and services provided. (Author/CL)

The paper advocates curriculum extension programmes which emanate from the immediate and specific needs and interests of pupils. Meeting the needs of exceptionally able pupils is seen as an aspect of providing opportunities for all pupils to develop this potential, and the extension programme is set within the existing resources (both human and…

The history of educational services for deaf-blind children in Saskatchewan is described, and the development of a program at the Saskatchewan School for the Deaf is reviewed. (CL)

Presents a framework for developing principles to clarify the intellectual problems and materials that constitute the core concerns of Black Studies. Defines two key concepts: "systematicity" (transformation and historical periodism) and "thematicity" (duality and pre-generic quest-myth of freedom and literacy. (Author/KH)

Twenty training professionals in different occupational groups rated eight steps in the training process from development to execution to evaluation. Accountability proved to be a key factor in training success, while needs assessment is usually not well executed. (SK)

The article reviews the literature and identifies issues in the lives of LD adults, including socialization, vocational adjustment, and education/training. Implications for future research and programing are noted, including research on skill demands in postsecondary education and programs offering career and vocational education to school-aged LD…

The establishment of a gifted identification system for kindergarten children in a midwest school system is described. Implementation included the following steps: rationale for establishing the program, background and research, methods of screening and identifying participants, design of the program, and techniques of evaluation. (Author)

A display of items and materials (such as prostheses, hearing aids, and braille material) can help nonhandicapped students and teachers appreciate similarities and differences of handicapped students. The development of one such Handicap Awareness Showcase is detailed. (CL)

Reviews the history of state mental health planning from the federal perspective, discusses some state objectives for comprehensive planning, and presents a participatory model for plan development. Demonstrates how the model can be used to produce a mental health plan that is a viable management tool fulfilling many state objectives. (Author/BH)

Based on the characteristic of gifted children to master content quickly and on needs of classroom teachers to provide differentiated instruction in content areas, the teacher institute emphasized the role of the content specialist. The highly significant gain from pre- to posttest suggests the institute curriculum was effective. (Author/CL)

Changes in visual screening procedures that may have occurred over 5 years were investigated. Parameters surveyed included procedures, times, sources of referrals, and personnel. A majority of districts continue to rely on far-point acuity testing. However, in cases where reading problems exist, greater use of vision specialists can be found.…

An inservice consultant describes procedures for assessing teacher needs through conferences, journals, self-rating scales, and observation. Consultation begins once the problem is identified and may include information sharing, team teaching, and child study groups. (CL)

A resource room program for emotionally disturbed children developed in Newfoundland has expanded from one initial unit to six programs operating at all school levels. The program stresses appropriate function in the regular class. (CL)