The College Outcome Measures Project (COMP) was established to develop, validate, and implement measures of the knowledge and skills that undergraduate students are expected to acquire and that are important to effective adult functioning. The COMP Measurement Battery yields a "communicating" score based in part on a speaking assessment…

Reported are results of the 1976 assessment program involving 1,742 trainable mentally retarded (TMR) students (10-14 years old) enrolled in Florida public schools. It is noted that the students were observed and rated by their teachers on a six-category scale (ranging from completed independently to physically unable) assessing their performance…

Presented is the final report for Project MORE (Mediated Operational Research for Education), a program to create a full-scale operational system for developing product prototypes (methods and materials packages) for teaching personal appearance and hygiene skills to the trainable mentally retarded child. Reviewed in part I is the history of the…

Room management is described as a behavioral strategy developed in Great Britain and designed to increase the percentage of time that handicapped children are engaged in independent, constructive activity. Used with severely multiply handicapped children, least responsive children were unlikely to be engaged unless receiving individual attention.…

An educational intervention program for 330 older adults produced substantial improvements in health knowledge, skills performance, and skills confidence; stimulated attempts to improve life style; and generated improvements in life quality. The program had little influence on the utilization of medical care or health status. (Author/RDN)

Time delay was used to successfully teach two elementary aged children with severe mental retardation and significant concomitant handicapping conditions how to request food or drink. Suggestions for implementing time delay with students not able to generalize imitative responses or to wait for a prompt are offered. (Author/DB)

Outlines a year-long study which sought to determine the effectiveness of social skills training on peer acceptance, self-esteem, social attraction, and self-confidence of students with disabilities. Social skills training with these students positively affected their social interactions and involvement with their nondisabled peers. (RJM)

Three students (ages 12 and 13) with developmental disabilities and severe behavior disorders were taught independent purchasing skills. To bypass the need for money computation skills, discrimination between three stimulus classes of frequent purchases (vending machine snack, convenience store snack, lunch) were trained. Two students mastered the…

Forty-eight adults with mental retardation assessed their daily living competency using the revised Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Compared to subject and counselor interviews and demonstrated competency, the self-evaluation yielded highly consistent results on domains measuring adaptive skills, though subjects underreported problematic…

Two studies compared the performance of students (total n=66 and ages 5-21) with autism or developmental disabilities in one-to-one instruction to performance of those transitioned to small groups. Results indicated successful transition to small group formats across curriculum areas including language, math, readiness, and shopping. (Author/DB)

The effectiveness and efficiency of stimulus fading, stimulus shaping, time delay, and a feedback only procedure were compared in teaching three adults with moderate developmental delays sight words. Results showed no clear advantage for any one procedure. The benefit of conducting a preliminary evaluation of instructional procedures during…

Gives first-year results of three-year program evaluation for drug and alcohol prevention project. Compared a target group of 152 sixth graders receiving instruction using Botvin's life skills training curriculum with 64 subjects receiving no treatment. Results indicated that the program had a significant positive impact on the target subjects'…

Investigates the major areas of interest to Israeli adolescents. Discusses the development of an instrument that determines relevant psychological/life skills domains. Factor analysis revealed nine clusters of variables. Discusses gender and age differences as well as implications for the educational system. (Author/MKA)

This article shows that unexpected gains can happen when teachers develop aggressive, innovative, and adaptive orientation and mobility (O&M) programming for children who are low-functioning. A case study illustrates strategies for using an adaptive mobility device, squaring-up, stepping out, and charting progress. Challenges to a successful O&M…

The residential independence of postsecondary students with disabilities, who had originally participated in the National Longitudinal Transition Study of students leaving high school between 1985 and 1990, was assessed through responses from 5,462 parents or surrogate parents of these students. Among predictors of residential independence were…