Inner-city elementary parochial schools in Oakland, California are utilizing the services of volunteers in providing the individual attention needed by children who are slow learners. (DB)

Summarizes information gathered State by State on policies regarding the paraprofessional in the educational system. (LN)

A 10 unit behavior modification workshop for 10 teachers and aides in a school for severely mentally retarded students resulted in significant gains for teachers which were maintained over a 7 week period. Classroom aides, however, made only slight and nonsignificant gains after training. (CL)

Offers suggestions for involving older adults as volunteers in school reading programs. (FL)

Questionnaires completed by 133 paraprofessionals working in classes for severely handicapped students revealed that the aides, mostly young and inexperienced, listed behavior management, individual training, feeding, and toileting their primary duties. However, many teachers' responsibilities, such as instructional planning, report writing, and…

Recognizing the diversity in experience and training among teacher aides, the Yucaipa School District established a formal inservice program for this employee group. This article describes how the district developed a seminar program to help instructional aides in improving their skills. Reactions to the program were favorable. (Author/SJL)

This article provides an insight into the educational needs, experiences and school support for deaf high school students attending a mainstream school, from the perspectives of the deaf students themselves, their teachers and support staff. Themes emerged from interviews with the students and staff around learning, communication, school culture…

State and federal accountability systems are pressuring public schools to improve the performance of low-achieving students. To respond, schools must be able to recruit and retain high-quality teachers, strengthen curricula, and take other steps to provide struggling students with the help they need. But such efforts are expensive and, as the…

Background: Inclusive education/mainstreaming is a key policy objective for the education of children and young people with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities. Aims: This paper reviews the literature on the effectiveness of inclusive education/mainstreaming. The focus is on evidence for effects in terms of child outcomes with…

The discourse and concepts associated with sociocultural theory have become increasingly important in discussion associated with early childhood education and curriculum at a theoretical level since the early 1990s. However, the extent to which such ideas have been adopted and understood by early childhood educators at the level of practice…

This article describes how one instructor can teach swimming to as many as 350 students with the aid of about 12 inexperienced volunteers. (PB)

The Developing A Partnership (DAP) training for teachers and aides was designed to assist the teachers who have been trained to teach students and find themselves managers of other adults in the classroom. Evaluation subsequent to the training by a single measure post-test of teachers and aides from five elementary schools in Los Angeles County…