The rapid growth of special education programs has exceeded the capability of teacher training programs in West Virginia to fill new positions in schools serving children with learning or behavior disorders. The focus of the Mainstream Practicum Project is to train regular educators who are currently working as untrained, uncredentialed personnel…

The language immersion approach of the Intercultural Montessori School (Oak Park, Illinois) for children aged 2-6 years is described and discussed. An introductory section gives background information on early work with immersion by Maria Montessori, a personal experience leading to the school's establishment, and the response of language and…

Increased interest in interdisciplinary instruction in secondary schools has led to the development of different models. At one school in the Shenandoah Valley (Virginia) three designs evolved when teams of teachers took on nontraditional, integrated instruction as a goal. In general, integrated curriculum designs in secondary schools match one of…

In 1991, the Northwest Area Health Education Center in North Carolina conducted a needs assessment of area hospitals, revealing that Respiratory Care (RC) departments in Catawba and Alexander counties would require 29 technicians and therapists within 3 years. A survey of area high school students identified 44 students interested in RC. In…

Findings of two doctoral research studies analyzing the organizational and instructional characteristics of successful reading and mathematics developmental programs in Texas community colleges are presented in this report. The first paper describes a 1989-90 analysis of developmental reading test scores to determine the characteristics of the…

This report describes the results of the Gulf County (Florida) College Counseling Project designed to raise the educational aspirations of students in rural areas who would otherwise stop their education upon completion of high school. It also describes how and why scores of young people from poor and working class homes in the Florida Panhandle…

This study reports on the characteristics of selected public libraries into which adult literacy programs have become relatively integrated. The study addresses the following issues (1) the form of leadership in those libraries in which literacy programming has become integrated; (2) the organizational and staff support that promotes library…

This discussion of bilingual education in the United States begins with a review of the historical and political context in which it has evolved since the late 1800s. Policy issues and some research are examined here. It then outlines the theoretical and conceptual debate, focusing on four major theoretical frameworks used to justify bilingual…

The working paper for a project on English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) education examines research and policy as they relate to the ability of adult students to access ESL programs, fully participate in and benefit from them, and make the transition to other "mainstream" academic programs or meaningful employment. Studies suggest that adult…

While none of the six school/college collaborations described in this report represents a fully developed professional development school (PDS), each focuses on components which might be included in a PDS. The six collaborative ventures in teacher education were carried out in Massachusetts during the 1987-88 academic year. Each program sought to…

This policy brief presents excerpts from an article by Judith Warren Little that addresses the problem of the "fit" between current state and local reforms and prevailing approaches to professional development. The brief addresses first five major themes of reform and their implications for teaching. These themes are: reforms in subject…

Discussed are the origins, objectives, activities, and achievements of a project which developed a book of lessons to teach high school students about the U.S. Constitution. A textbook study and an educational conference revealed the need to develop supplementary curriculum materials to strengthen textbook treatments of the Constitution. The book…

This report focuses on the organization of guidance provision through a Personal Guidance Base for low achievers aged 16 to 18. An introduction outlines the background to the concept of a local Personal Guidance Base to which young people can turn as they move from school to adult and working life, and identifies its main elements. Opportunities…

Features contributing to the success of six city-wide, comprehensive school-age program models are highlighted. Models are Seattle, Washington's Community Partnerships for School-Age Child Care; Madison, Wisconsin's School-Age Child Care Project; Irvine, California's Irvine Child Care Project; Houston, Texas' After-School Partnership; Los Angeles,…

Hearing impaired children from birth to age 5 in rural areas throughout the state of Utah are served by a home-based program which trains parents to communicate effectively with their hearing impaired child. The program is based on the following premises: (1) the preschool years are critical for developing communication skills; (2) the home is the…