This paper focuses on a community's educational improvement project in Tennessee that resulted from executive appointment of a citizen task force in each community. The paper reports project development and results; discussion emphasizes implications for school administrators. A joint task force, appointed in 1985, was directed to develop…

Intended for parents, students, and professionals, the book explains the need for specific competencies needed for dealing with severely and profoundly handicapped children and offers methods by which the trainee, trainer, and training institution may advance the education of this population. Following an introductory chapter are 10 chapters which…

The Instructional Planning Team is based on the Research and Instruction Unit of the Wisconsin R & D Center for Cognitive Learning. To determine if the IPT as an organizational arrangement would increase the ability of a group of classroom teachers to use research-based information to improve their instructional program, a pilot test was conducted…

The goal of this study was to answer the question: "When ethnically diverse fourth- and fifth-grade students participate in a ten-week musical program, are there any shifts in the following: academic performance, attitude towards school, social skills, self-esteem, public speaking ability, and/or school attendance?" This study was…

High parental involvement has been linked to increases in student achievement and engagement in school (Moore, 1992; Swap, 1993; Henderson and Berla, 1994; Fuller and Olsen, 1998). Schools with large populations of low-income students or students of color often have difficulties in engaging a majority of parents due to a variety of social and…

This book is intended to serve as a freestanding reference for teachers whose classes include students with academic or behavioral difficulties. The recommended best practices were originally developed for students with disabilities but have been found to be effective with all students. Each chapter provides principles, suggestions and specific…

Written with teachers, administrators, and students of Purcell Marian High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, this book is grounded in a 2-year action research project that created an inclusive high school. Chapter 1 provides snapshots of interactions in an inclusive high school and refutes some of the concerns expressed by teachers and administrators.…

A quantitative research design was employed to investigate how faculty members become engaged and remain committed to organizational reform. Data collection included interviews with 17 faculty members at California State University in Monterey Bay during the academic year 1995-96, as well as several site visits. This new university was part of a…

Knowledge production and learning in engineering is a local, situated, negotiated, and thoroughly social process. Although engineering work entails the construal, production, and application of artifacts and technical devices belonging to the "object world," the process of designing is a process of achieving consensus among real or…

This report discusses the activities and outcomes of Project Coach Outreach, a project to encourage the use of best practices in early intervention for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with disabilities and to increase family-centered service options in Mississippi. Specifically, the project focused on the use of natural environments to include…

The Applied Technology in Business program at Oakland University (Michigan) is a business minor that focuses on training business students in the proactive use of information technologies to solve business problems. The program is sponsored by corporations that provide real business problems for students to solve. Students learn problem solving,…

This document contains four symposium papers on linking human resource development (HRD) theory and practice. "Partnership Research: Ensuring More Useful HRD Collaborations" (Ronald L. Jacobs), which proceeds from the premise that most HRD research has limited impact on practice because research problems are usually generated devoid of a…

These two journal issues discuss topics relating to the physical and health disabilities of children and adults. The first issue contains the following articles: (1) "Position Statement on Specialized Health Care Procedures," by the Council for Exceptional Children's Division on Physical and Health Disabilities that calls for all…

Describes development and design of the University of Delaware's faculty development program, which uses a variety of technology applications and resources to encourage individual exploration of technology, develop teamwork skills, adapt to fast-changing content, accommodate diverse learning styles, use asynchronous communication options, provide…

A survey about inclusion of children with disabilities in early-childhood settings was responded to by 172 parents, practicing professionals in early-childhood programs, university-based trainers, and preservice students. Professional competence and importance of skills were rated for five domains: (1) working with families, (2) performance-based…