Commissioner's Rules Concerning the State Plan for Educating English Language Learners (ELLs) states that all school districts that are required to provide bilingual education and/or English as a second language (ESL) programs establish and operate a Language Proficiency Assessment Committee (LPAC). The LPACs are charged with reviewing all…

Discusses the problem of minority overrepresentation in special education and suggests that many academic difficulties may result from deficiencies in students' learning environments. Presents procedures for examining and ruling out such probabilities before beginning a comprehensive evaluation of the learner. Proposes a functional assessment…

Discusses the urgency of assessing appropriately the adaptive behavior of children and youths who are thought to be mentally retarded. The ecological perspective is offered as a valuable framework for viewing this behavior. Reviews several adaptive behavior scales and draws implications and guidelines for social work practice. (Author/JAC)

In this year's Distinguished Educator department, we feature six educators whose research has focused on the role of early literacy in early childhood education. Each of the six addresses a vitally important aspect of early childhood literacy teaching and learning. Sections include: "Working with Families as Partners in Early Literacy," by Dorothy…

This report describes the New York City School Improvement Project, a program designed to help participating schools to improve their instructional effectiveness through school based planning groups that represent the schools' constituencies. The project design and procedures for determining the needs of individual schools are discussed, as are…

Addresses the disproportionate representation of culturally and linguistically different children in special education classes. Proposes a three-tiered response model relating to the individual practitioner, the educational process, and a larger scaled systematic response to the issues. Effective practical suggestions are offered. (Author/JAC)

This paper presents an approach to the future role of public school language and speech specialists designed to make them indispensable to teachers and administrators. They should move away from the pull-out method of delivering services. Instead they should work directly with students in their classroom and consult or co-teach with regular and…

Most effective schools share a number of key characteristics, including clear-cut goals and objectives, adequate funding and financial management, quality academic programs, valid assessment programs, parent and family involvement, teacher and staff development, high expectations for students, community involvement, comprehensive support services,…

This report defines what is meant by quality basic education in Georgia and makes numerous recommendations for achieving it for all Georgians. The recommendations are that: (1) basic skills and general job skills be emphasized in vocational education; (2) the salary base for teachers be increased; (3) a five plateau teacher career ladder be…

This paper focuses on ways in which one state policy for improving education--standard-setting through testing mechanisms--affects the classroom teacher-learner relationship. That uniform policy-making is problematic is clear from observations of 43 Mid-Atlantic school district teachers. Responding to three types of standards, 45 percent found…