Kayenta Unified School District (KUSD) is located in the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. In addition to serving over 2,600 K-12 students, KUSD collaborates with the Navajo Nation and the Kayenta community to provide three early childhood education programs: Acceptance Belonging Caring (ABC) preschool, Navajo Nation Head Start, and Child Care…

A Web site called the "Teachers Lounge" was created to enable group assignments for distance education students taking a televised teacher education course on collaboration and consultation in special education. The primary component of the Web site was case studies of four fictitious children in various grades whose teachers were…

The Training Rural Educators in Kentucky through Distance Learning project at the University of Kentucky used team teaching in five courses in special education using distance learning technology. Describes five course delivery models: (1) lead/supplemental instructors, (2) multiple instructors, (3) guest lecture, (4) co-instructors with single…

Surveys of 117 special education teachers and administrators in rural Louisiana identified training needs of rural special educators: (1) generic approaches to teaching rural exceptional children; (2) effective strategies for adapting curriculum; (3) working with families; (4) knowledge of current legislation; and (5) working with a wide diversity…

Discusses principles of rural transitional programs for disabled students and strategies for prevocational training such as career visitors, career field trips, career day fair, career bulletin boards, career learning centers, and career aptitude inventories. Discusses strategies for supplementing school programs with community and home-based…

A survey of job developers at 11 community-based adult service facilities and 2 major public school systems in rural South Dakota revealed that delivery of supported employment services to persons with developmental disabilities is affected by the rate of unemployment, community size, and percentage of service jobs. Discusses solutions to problems…

Guidelines for implementing a transdisciplinary (TD) team approach for delivering special education services to rural students cover team development, assessment, program planning, implementation of service delivery, training of team members, role release, ongoing monitoring, and regular team meetings. Includes a checklist for evaluating teams…

Overviews special-education applications of distance education services in rural areas, including direct service programs for special education students, preservice personnel preparation programs, and inservice teacher training programs. Suggests that the use of distance education will continue to grow as telecommunications technologies become…

Describes school-based Intervention Assistant Teams' (IATs) work with rural nonspecial education students experiencing regular-classroom difficulties. Teams evaluate students, recommend, and carry out intervention. Discusses team leadership, membership, and principals' and parents' roles. Describes potential IAT benefits for students, parents, and…

Washington statewide data indicate that attrition rates did not differ between rural and urban special educators, but were twice as high for rural special educators as general educators. Interviews with special educators focus on soaring rural special education enrollments and difficulties in rural teacher recruitment. Contains 23 references. (SV)

To meet new North Carolina requirements for "infant credential" and "preschool handicapped" certification, teachers and other professionals working in 19 (mostly rural) early intervention programs received on-site training that combined seminars, consultation, and trainee projects. Evaluation revealed program characteristics…

Describes the University of Wyoming's use of audio teleconferencing to deliver coursework to rural teachers and other professionals fulfilling new state certification requirements in early childhood special education. Suggests teaching methods, teacher behaviors, and "classroom" techniques that increase effectiveness of teleconferencing…

Children with chronic ear infections experience a lag time in understanding speech, which inhibits classroom participation and the ability to make friends, and ultimately reduces self-esteem. Difficulty in hearing affects speech and vocabulary development, reading and writing proficiency, and academic performance, and could lead to placement in…

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC) Master's degree in learning disabilities is delivered via distance education to surrounding rural counties. Describes the UNCC-community college partnership, technology selection and resources, faculty and student training for using distance education technology, costs, funding, student…

This report suggests that in order to enhance implementation of inclusion in rural schools, specific strategies related to instruction, assessment, and collaboration must be adopted. The report overviews cooperative learning strategies that can be used for teaching reading inclusively at the elementary level. The question-answer relationships…