This brief paper presents a comparative overview of three major federal laws affecting people with disabilities: the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Presented in chart form, the three pieces of legislation are compared for the…

A content analysis was performed to determine the trends in educational technology for the period October 1, 1990, through September 30, 1991. Sources for the analysis included five leading professional journals in educational technology, papers given at annual conventions of three professional associations, dissertations from five universities…

This digest provides information on determining the effectiveness of school mathematics programs. The purposes for developing accountability programs and characteristics of good mathematics programs are listed. State goals and objectives and standards developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics have furthered the production of…

This digest provides information about "Research Within Reach: Science Education. A Research-Guided Response to the Concerns of Educators," part of a series produced by the Appalachia Educational Laboratory, Inc., Charleston, West Virginia. (Previous volumes in the series focused on reading, elementary mathematics, oral and written…

This digest discusses the difficulty of assessing the speech and language of culturally and linguistically diverse students and recommends strategies for identifying communication disorders. It begins by reviewing what qualifies as a communication disorder, discussing the limitations of speech and language tests, and outlining test considerations.…

Multiple, sometimes competing, purposes for adult arts education are to develop the individual, maintain the dominant culture, or change the culture; develop appreciative audiences or creative practitioners; or liberate creativity or develop technical skills. Art may be the means or a goal in itself; that is, the arts may be used for instrumental…

Thanks to increased advocacy and research, several major federal laws, and heightened awareness of the changing demands of the workplace, more attention is being focused on adults with learning disabilities (LD). There is still no consensus on definitions of LD. Estimates of the incidence of LD range from 5% to 20% of the population. Adults with…

This digest provides an overview of the auditory-oral approach used for developing communication skills in children who are deaf or hard of hearing. The approach is based on the fundamental premise that acquiring competence in spoken language is a realistic goal for children who are deaf or hard of hearing and is best developed in an environment…

This digest summarizes the problem of over-representation of minority students in special education and offers suggestions to reduce this disproportionate representation. It notes concerns of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) that minority students are being misclassified and receiving…

Classroom assessment measures, in the past often limited to multiple-choice and standardized tests, now can involve the creation of portfolios, or collections of pieces of work which the student selects as the best representation of his or her efforts, progress, skills, and accomplishments. Portfolios also usually include teacher evaluations and…

Career counseling in secondary schools is important for all students, but it is especially critical for students with learning disabilities. This digest describes how making developmental career counseling a focus in secondary schools contributes to the success of youth with learning disabilities in post-school employment. These students show…

Over the past 20 years, library media professionals have worked to move from teaching isolated library skills to teaching integrated information skills. Effective integration of information skills has two requirements: (1) the skills must directly relate to the content area curriculum and to classroom assignments; and (2) the skills themselves…

This digest, based on a larger report of the same title, summarizes principles for improving quality in higher education institutions. Emphasis is on the effect of the principles when they are used holistically to create a culture of academic excellence. The quality principles are based on the conceptual framework of total quality management (TQM)…

Lack of success of some adult learners of English as a Second Language may be due to learning disabilities (LD). Review of research reveals that LD can affect every aspect of learning, impairing single or multiple skills and sometimes appearing in the second language when not in the first. Identification of adult ESL learners as having LD can be…

Suggesting that all students are capable of learning and can achieve high levels of competency when teachers delineate their expectations, this digest focuses on Outcome-Based Education (OBE) in the language arts classroom. The digest delineates some of the tenets of OBE, including the necessity of clearly defined objectives, students having…