In this activity, students construct bird nests and birdhouses. Students research a bird of their choice in order to design a house that will meet that bird's specific needs. The activity works well in conjunction with a high school level woodshop class where students would partner up. This activity requires an 80-minute time period for…

This teacher's resource book for economics education in grades two to four contains lessons that are meant to be integrated across the curriculum. The purpose of the lessons is to help children learn about their ability to make choices and their responsibility for the consequences of those choices. Decision-making is a skill that, like any other…

The Facilitator's Edge is a workshop series based on the life/work messages of The Edge magazine. The workshops are deigned to help educators, youth workers, and their career practitioners facilitate conscious career building. This manual consists of five group sessions, each focusing on a different career-building theme. "Megatrends and…

This is the third in a series of five horse project activity guides for youth. Levels 1-3 focus on "horse-less" activities, while Levels 4 and 5 zero in on riding and horsemanship. Each guide has an achievement program to encourage youth to learn and develop life skills. The assistance of a horse project helper in completing the achievement…

The success or abortion of any major innovation is dependent on the involvement of all factions of the school faculty. Each holds a key to the improvement of instruction. The role of the curriculum worker in career education is to recognize the potential relationships among and between each of the components and catalyze syntheses to help…

Reported was an experimental training program to teach eating skills to 11 profoundly retarded (average IQ 15) institutionalized adults by means of reinforcement principles applied to three 15 minute mini-meals daily. (DB)

Information concerning sociodemographics, disability characteristics, and services became available on approximately 900 autistic children and adults as a result of a New York state needs assessment and case finding collection project. The results indicated a predominance of males to females and a high concomitant occurrence of mental retardation.…

Explored sources of instrumental support for older persons (N=753) of varying levels of functional capacity. Results suggested that spouses are the primary source of help for married elders with impaired capacity; adult daughters are the major helpers when a spouse is not present. (Author/RC)

Defined competence as effectiveness in dealing with one's environment and assessed (N=27) independently living older adults. Results found higher levels of competence were associated with a more demanding environment, and engaging in more activities. Cognitive test performance was related to both competence and quality of lingiustic tasks. (JAC)

Tests for Everyday Living (TEL) is a series of tests which assess adolescents' knowledge and performance in daily living and prevocational skill areas. Tests include a practical reading scale. Content of TEL and psychometric characteristics determined during standardization provide evidence for utility and validity of the battery. (Author)

Life skills education has not been a meaningful part of most individuals' education experience. This has caused many social problems because the individual does not know how to cope with life. Presented a framework to illustrate how and why life skills can and should be incorporated into curricula. (Author)

The creation of values is seen as the central purpose of collegiate education. Some historical examples are cited that demonstrate the importance of values in shaping the present liberal arts college. Three widely valued skills are discussed: the ability to discriminate, to communicate, and to recognize obligation. (LBH)

Thirty-six English children with cerebral palsy (ages 3-4) were compared on their skills for independence. Nineteen of the children were enrolled in a Conductive Education Program, and 17 were enrolled in special education programs. Results indicate there were no significant differences between the two groups in their independence skills.…

Assesses the potency of drug prevention and education programs and discusses whether federal spending on these activities has played a role in reducing adolescent drug use over the past decade. It concludes that neither drug-education activities or federal spending has influenced the decline in adolescent drug use from the early 1980s to early…

A report on the current status of 10 adults with mental retardation who were deinstitutionalized in 1979 found all 10 still were living independently. All had stable and satisfying lives according to their own reports and those of their case managers. Case managers reported moderate satisfaction with clients' competence in the areas of travel and…