School-university partnerships have been offered as possible solutions for many contemporary educational challenges. These relationships are generally well accepted by university and school personnel; however, unanswered questions remain regarding their nature and utility. This paper describes one teacher preparation program's efforts to…

Literature review found approximately 5-9 percent of school children having clinically significant voice disorders that interfere with classroom communication and may be a symptom of underlying illness. However, voice disorders are grossly underidentified and underserved, particularly in rural schools with personnel shortages. Proposes a teacher…

The superintendent of Saint Pauls Schools describes how educators, community leaders, businesspersons, and high school students worked together to develop the Way Off Broadway Deli, a successful school-based enterprise providing experiential education in entrepreneurship and small business management, as well as student employment and local…

Discusses the unique problems of accommodating the needs of mildly handicapped students in rural schools and the importance of collegial support in overcoming these problems. Describes peer collaboration, a method of facilitating collegial support and mutual problem solving. Summarizes research evaluating the effectiveness of peer collaboration.…

Surveys of staff in 10 rural regional cooperatives and 27 special education directors in New Mexico regarding their perception of program effectiveness found that the regional cooperative approach provides special education-related services (training, technical assistance, grant writing) and personnel that schools would have difficulty maintaining…

Provides strategies to facilitate more effective professional/paraprofessional collaboration in special education: clarification of roles and responsibilities, discussion of job expectations, daily scheduling, ongoing communication, and regularly scheduled training. Lists sample role descriptions for professionals and paraprofessionals, discussion…

Montana developed an alternative certification program for special educators in response to severe personnel shortages in rural schools. Program strengths include 2 years of mentoring and flexibility in delivery that allows participants to earn certification while working. Evaluation results are presented along with suggested improvements, which…

Overviews challenges that rural educators face in meeting the diverse needs of students. A case study illustrates key elements of creating a positive behavior support plan: establishing a collaborative problem-solving team, determining the student's strengths, identifying the purpose of the negative behavior, identifying prevention strategies,…

Describes unique aspects of rural provision of school psychological services. Discusses strategies within a collaborative consultation model in which the goals (primary, secondary, or tertiary prevention), levels of service (community/school, students, parents, or school personnel), and best approach (direct or indirect) of service delivery are…

Preassessment teams are a collaborative problem-solving resource for teachers who have students with learning or behavioral problems. A survey of 48 rural preassessment team members found that they perceived themselves as a very effective support system for their colleagues, but desired more training in designing behavior management strategies…

Vermont's I-Team has provided technical assistance and training to educational team members serving children with disabilities for 25 years. Characteristics of sustainable human services programs include flexibility, collaborative consultation, consideration and inclusion of families and communities, competent management, on-going training for all…

Overviews the recent history of special education, including common educational practices and the advantages and disadvantages of full inclusion. A survey of 336 educators in one urban and two rural New Mexico communities found agreement with only 2 of 27 statements regarding potential benefits of inclusion, but with all 26 statements representing…

A successful Indiana distance education program that provides special education courses to rural teachers uses technologies available in target communities, collaborates with host schools on practicum experiences, focuses on inclusive settings, uses team teaching to increase student engagement, and uses teacher-participants as on-site coordinators…

Describes an interdisciplinary transition model currently used in rural Wisconsin for special needs students that links vocational assessment, Individualized Education Plan development, program placement, instructional support, exit transition conferences, and postschool followup. Stresses collaboration among students, parents, educators, and…

Educators from nine rural school districts in Idaho participated in a transdisciplinary team training program aimed at improving educational services for disabled students. Pretest and posttest analysis revealed that training was effective in improving collaboration among team members but that further work was needed on teams developing and…