Reviews the requirements of the revised Title I for parent and community involvement in schools, especially the requirement for school-parent contracts, and summarizes research on the effects of school-family partnerships on students, teachers, and parents. Two major programs for building such partnerships are described. (SLD)

Nine defining attributes of skill and skilled performance are as follows: skill is learned; content and contextual knowledge is important; skilled performance is goal directed and requires motivation; schemata are prerequisites; relevant problem solving is involved; skill involves relative judgments with individual performance differences;…

Comparison of 62 unemployed participants in occupational skills/personal development training with 71 controls on the course waiting list showed that participation had an immediate effect on well-being and improved self-confidence about getting work. A supportive and encouraging training environment was associated with improved well-being. (SK)

Explores moral values underlying education, training, and learning, arguing that learning is amoral in that it is natural and occurs as a result of being. Demonstrates how the cultural values of modernity underlie education and training and suggests that universal moral values are experienced when one is willing to forego freedom for another's…

Adult communication management theory proposes that communication takes place when individuals construct meanings about shared messages and accurately interpret others' intentions. Developing communicative competence requires assuming responsibility for learning, self-awareness, multicultural understanding, and learning-to-learn skills. (SK)

Human resource development in organizations can be used as a coercive tool that reinforces existing power structures. The emerging postmodern organization must consider individual wisdom, values, and knowledge; recognize differences; remove inequalities; and create opportunities for all voices to be heard. (SK)

This article explains and supports the policy statement on consent recently approved by the Board of Directors of the Council for Exceptional Children's Division on Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. Provides ethical and practical suggestions for dealing with issues of consent among adults with mental and developmental…

Social networks, social supports, family environment, and adjustment among 36 preadolescent students with and without mild mental retardation (MMR) were examined. Students with MMR were more likely to turn to family and adults for companionship, while those without MMR generally turned to peers. Those who received greater support experienced fewer…

Three elementary students with mental retardation were taught math facts during small group instruction in a regular classroom, using unrelated instructional feedback (sight word vocabulary cards). Results found that all students learned their targeted stimuli, some of their unrelated stimuli, and some of their peers' target stimuli through…

This study investigated the effectiveness of teacher-implemented naturalistic language intervention within play activities for four elementary students with moderate mental disabilities. While students showed significant increases in numbers of spontaneous language targets used during the intervention condition, they demonstrated minimal…

Effects of two instructional trial scheduling formats (massed practice only, versus combined massed practice and distributed practice) on acquisition, transfer, and generalization of explicitly prompted requests were studied with five children with severe mental disabilities, ages 4-8. General case/naturalistic teaching was effective for all…

Interactions between 10 elementary students with moderate/severe mental retardation and their peers and instructors were observed during physical education classes. Subjects generally interacted equally with peers with and without disabilities; when significant differences existed, the structure of the class was found to be the cause. Homogeneous…

This study assessed the intra-rater and inter-rater reliability of the Motivation Assessment Scale as used with 20 adults with mental retardation, expanding the results of previous research by evaluating across additional time and administrations. Results from 19 raters indicated variable moderate-to-low intra-rater and inter-rater reliability.…

This article describes a "paid co-worker support" model which enables individuals with multiple disabilities (including severe mental retardation) to maintain competitive employment. A job coach trained two workers with severe disabilities in job skills, and a paid co-worker in support skills; both workers successfully maintained employment.…

Using 6 essential features and 35 indicators of school-industry programs, 65 Australian programs were assessed. A huge variation in number of indicators was found; only 28 programs would meet all 6 basic criteria. (SK)