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The Schenectady Intensive Reading Instructional Teams (I. R. I. T.) Program, funded under the Elementary Secondary Education Act Title III, is designed to provide intensive reading instruction to 135 students from eight elementary schools in the district. The students, mostly third and some fourth graders, are nominated by their classroom teachers and come to I. R. I. T. in need of special reading help. The school year is divided into three ten-week cycles with each cycle serving 45 children. The team comprises three reading teachers, a director, and a secretary. Each teacher is responsible for instructing one of the three I. R. I. T. reading areas: decoding, vocabulary and comprehension, and individualized reading. Mornings in the I. R. I. T. Program are spent on instruction. The 45 students are divided into three heterogeneous groups of 15. Each teacher spends a period of one hour with each of the three groups. The groups rotate to a new teacher for each period so that each student gets three periods of reading instruction, one period of instruction for each of the three I. R. I. T. reading areas. Afternoons are used by the team teachers for preparation, coordination, and professional development, while the students return to regular classrooms in their home schools. The understanding and approval of parents are important to the success of I. R. I. T. (Author/JM)

This is the second in a series of progress reports on the Brookline Early Education Project (BEEP), a program which provides diagnostic and educational services for very young children and their families. The 1972-74 programs are described, and plans for the following 3-year period are reviewed. The purpose of this pilot project of the Brookline Public Schools is to work with families throughout the preschool years to provide optimal health and environmental conditions. During the 1972-74 period, 282 children and their families participated in the program. The document presents detailed information on current and proposed diagnostic and educational services and on program evaluation and administration. The health and developmental diagnostic services emphasize an interdisciplinary approach involving pediatricians, psychologists, social workers and teachers. The diagnostic programs consist of two basic sections: (1) an initial diagnostic battery, covering the prenatal period and the first two weeks after birth, and (2) health and developmental evaluations, given periodically through the first five years of life. Several case histories are given, illustrating BEEP's role in early detection, referral and family advocacy. The education program focuses on the family, involving home-based programs in most cases. Included in future plans is a professional training program in educational readiness and developmental health, with workshops for pediatricians, nurses and educators. (Author/BF)

Provided are separate reports on 14 Head Start programs offering strategies for integrating and delivering services to handicapped children. Information is given on programs in the following locations: Brighton, Colorado; Lawrence, Kansas; Norfolk, Virginia; Portland, Maine; Cooperstown, New York; Crow Agency, Montana; Anchorage, Alaska; Bristol, Florida; Tucson, Arizona; Portage, Wisconsin; Seattle, Washington; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; St. Paul, Minnesota; and Stigler, Oklahoma. Reports usually include sections on the project's philosophy; intervention strategy (such as handicapping conditions served, geographical area served, recruitment, screening and diagnostic procedures, plan for integration, daily activities, services, parent involvement, and staff training); staff roles and skills (job titles and responsibilities); and community and regional resources. Program plan outlines which cover the target, goal, outcome objectives, activities, and evaluation are also provided for most of the programs. (SBH)

Evaluated was the Summer Pre-Placement Program for Severely Multihandicapped Blind Children, designed to provide individualized programs for improving the performance of 16 children (4-11 years old) in the following areas--communication skills, vision training, psychomotor and perceptual training, social development, ambulation, self-dependence, self-awareness, and awareness of others. Objectives of the evaluation were to determine if the performance of a majority of students improved across all items at least one scale point in the areas mentioned above, and to determine if parents were involved in the educational and emotional needs of the children and the rehabilitation methods employed. Findings showed that although the project's first objective was not met, no child decreased in terms of the areas under consideration and parents were involved in the program. (Appended are the rating scale, a sample interview schedule, responses to telephone interviews, observation report forms, and a daily schedule.) (SBH)

Evaluated was the Summer Education Program for Neurologically and Physically Handicapped Children, designed to improve the performance of 145 children (6-16 years old) in the following areas--gross motor skills, swimming, fine motor skills, socialization with nonhandicapped peers, and independent daily living skills. The program included the following activities: pool hydrotherapy and swimming instruction, physical and occupational therapy, reading and mathematics instruction, arts and crafts, music, instruction in game skills, field day competition, and encouragement of parents to assist and participate in the program. Findings indicated that the program met its objectives of demonstrating a statistically significant improvement of its participants in program skill areas; and that the program as implemented coincided with the program as described in the proposal. (Appended materials include sample observation report forms, the rating scale, a schedule of daily activities, a sample parent questionnaire, and the program abstract.) (SBH)

Presented is an evaluation of a pre-placement program designed to improve the performance of 15 multi-handicapped blind children (4-10 years old) in activities of daily living, and to involve the parents in the children's education. Among findings reported are that all but one of the Ss improved in activities of daily living as measured by the rating scale. It is recommended that the program be continued and that staff suggestions be incorporated into future programming. Test results are presented in tabular form. (IM)

The Des Moines family learning project, begun in 1972, involves parents, young adults, and children in a program which shows parents effective methods of helping their children learn to read and which helps them discover solutions to many of the conflicts that occur in family situations. This booklet describes the program and explains the various facets of the family learning center. Included are the addresses of the five family-learning centers operated by the Des Moines public schools and located in Des Moines. (JM)

A description and evaluation of Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I- funded projects in Vermont are contained in this report. Information is provided for the following areas: participation of public and private school children in each program component and for each grade level (preschool-grade 12); per pupil costs; full and part-time personnel paid with Title I funds and other sources; volunteer participation; composition, involvement, and recruitment of Parent Advisory Councils; and council activities. Standardized and criterion- referenced test results showed that over 50% of all students who participated in Title I reading programs made appreciable gains during the 1974-75 school year. For mathematics, 48% of all participants achieved gains of at least 1.1 months in grade equivalent scores. Approximately 48% of all students who participated in speech programs were permanently dismissed. This meant, in most cases, that the problem area(s) was corrected. Measures of student performance for those districts using the Prescriptive Reading Inventory, a criterion-referenced reading program, are reported separately in the appendix. (Author/AM)

This is the third progress report of the Brookline Early Education Project (BEEP) which is a program designed to provide diagnostic and educational services to the family through their child's preschool years. This document provides information on (1) the BEEP center, (2) playgroups: transition phase of the education program, (3) dental screening and education, (4) lead and anemia screening, (5) parent interviews, (6) family count, (7) diagnostic referrals, (8) social services component, (9) interdisciplinary case reviews, (10) comparison group testing, (11) school evaluation plans, (12) seminars, (13) visits, (14) pediatric workshop, (15) prekindergarten phase,(16) computerized data analysis, (17) publication plans and (18) forthcoming proposal. (MS)

Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) supports programs in schools attended by significant numbers of children from low income families who, along with other students, may need this extra help to improve their performance. As a result of recent changes in the law, more parents will now be involved in the planning, development, operation, and evaluation of Title I projects. This document presents the new legal requirements for parent involvement in Title I projects. It begins by describing what Title I now says about parent involvement and presents the new Federal law which will affect the Parent Advisory Council (PAC) membership selection procedures. This law is called the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, commonly named the Buckley Amendment. The Buckley Amendment may prohibit certain procedures that have been used in the post to recruit Title I PAC members. Reports indicate that many practical problems, such as the lack of guidelines for local school districts to follow to establish parent participation, have developed since the Buckley Amendment became law. It is stated that this amendment has created some difficulties in complying with the new parent involvement provisions of Title I, but that ways to obtain consent and identify Title I parents for PAC membership can and should be devised by school systems. (Author/AM)

This document presents the evaluation design and findings of the second year of operation of the Experimental Bicultural Early Childhood Program, an Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Title III project operating in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The major objectives of the program were: (1) to facilitate the development of school readiness skills for 3- and 4-year-olds in the Pre-Kindergarten component of the program; (2) to promote maturational growth and development of certain skills with 3-year-olds through parental orientation and training in the home, and to make available to families educational toys and other materials, using the child's dominant language; and (3) to provide a Kindergarten experience for children who participated in the program the previous year, and to promote readiness for a formal learning situation in terms of commonly accepted learning readiness skills. The target population was approximately 65% Spanish-speaking. The evaluation technique, process and sequence, and the results, are presented, discussed, and analyzed. (MS)

The Comprehensive Early Childhood Education Network (CECEN), established in 1971, had three main components: (1) information dissemination at the district level, (2) district training plans for parents, teachers and administrators, and (3) monitoring reports from each district on the effectiveness of its activities. A fourth component, the provision of special speech and hearing services to preschool children was added in 1972. This report provides end-of-year, 1974-75, status information on the program as regards the general enabling objectives, the objectives for each component, and end of year surveys of the Network Resource Teachers and Program Manager. The general enabling objectives of the program were met. Various planning documents were submitted and committee meetings were held which constituted evidence of attainment. (Author/RC)

This report presents eight articles dealing with several aspects of foreign languages in the elementary schools (FLES) and bilingual education. "Why? What? How?" by M. Woodruff presents a view of the present situation of and future potential for FLES in the U.S. In "Reaction to: 'Why? What? How?'" R. Brooks raises questions regarding FLES's needs and the influence of professional organizations in this area. "Prescription for FLES: Positive Action" by V. Gramer makes a case for action by FLES teachers to develop positive attitudes toward and high standards for FLES. "Three Myths that Almost Killed FLES" by P. P. Parent discusses FLES viewed in the context of the child's whole education. "FLES Can Be ...." by G. C. Lipton advocates a flexible approach to defining FLES programs."FLES Supports Bilingual Education and Vice Versa in the Louisiana Experiment" by H. B. Dyess presents a history of FLES in Louisiana and its cooperation with bilingual education. "Community and Parent Involvement in Bilingual Education for the Disadvantaged" by C. Prudhomme discusses the needs and involvement of parents of disadvantaged children in bilingual education. "A Bilingual Program Grows Up" by J. McSpadden describes in allegory the 5-year growth of the Lafayette Parish Bilingual Program in Louisiana. A list of past chairmen of the National FLES Committee of the AATF completes the volume. (AM)

This paper is intended to furnish the necessary context and background information for an understanding of the role and functions of the Queensland, Australia Pre-School Correspondence Program. This educational service, the first of its kind in Australia, occurred within the context of a policy to provide one year of free preschool education for all children aged 4-5 years within the State of Queensland. It is directed toward children in remote areas. Lessons consist of a printed program with suggested activities for parents to use with recorded material or cassette tapes, library resources and a kit of equipment. This paper provides an overview of Queensland's geography as well as an outline of Queensland's educational system and tables presenting such demographic data as school enrollments, home background, age distribution, remoteness from school, illnesses among school children, and equipment available to the parents. (MS)

This report contains twenty-four tables which present data on Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title I-funded projects for the state of Ohio. Major instructional areas are: reading, mathematics, vocational education, tutorial services, pre-school education, and special education. Reading and mathematics evaluation data are presented in terms of the degree of achievement change as measured by standardized tests. Degree of change is defined in terms of the following criteria: marked improvement, improvement, some improvement, and little or no improvement. (Author/AM)

Follow Through, an educational program for K-3 grade children, is operated on the following reservations: Cherokee, North Carolina; Choctaw, Mississippi; Northern Cheyenne, Montana; Rosebud Sioux, South Dakota; Turtle Mountain, North Dakota; and Wind River, Wyoming. Since Follow Through mandates the employment of paraprofessionals from the community served, the primary budget item is for the employment of classroom aides. From the beginning, the program set up career development training which would enable participating schools to increase the available certified personnel from the population served. Educational approaches which can be effectively taught by paraprofessionals are used. For the first time, Indian personnel are in the majority and the educational achievement of reservation children has been "dramatically" improved. This report discusses: how Follow Through is improving the education of reservation children, what would happen if the program is discontinued, the involvement of parents on advisory committees and school boards, the ways the program has come to reflect the uniqueness of each Indian nation, and parent attitudes about the program on Indian reservations. The community, type of school, and tribe served by Indian Follow Through Projects are listed. (NQ)

Begun in 1969, Follow Through has provided the Northern Cheyenne Indians of Montana the experience of actual management responsibility for a school-age program. Operating in kindergarten through third grade, the program also represents the first school-age program in which funds have been channeled through the Tribal Council instead of directly to the schools. This descriptive and evaluative report documents the program's evolution and program outcomes for the period from 1969 to 1974. The descriptive section emphasizes the role of Indian people both in management and teaching, the context of culture of the Northern Cheyenne and the program's adaptation to the people it serves, and the institutional change which has occurred in the schools and community since the initiation of Follow Through. Data for the evaluative section were obtained from all achievement test results; the records on parent participation in the Parent Advisory Committee, in the classroom, and as participants on other educational committees and boards; from educators and Indian community leaders; records of training and class attendance by Indian adults pursuing greater professional training; from project proposals and BIA published data on the labor force; on-site visitations; and extensive interviewing of program participants and staff. (NQ)

This monograph is composed of two papers, one which discusses a study undertaken to examine standardized reading tests in relation to pupils' performance and another which contains samples of materials that could be made available to parents by their children's teachers or by community leaders. The research project analyzed the scores of 61 seventh grade pupils who had taken the Standard Diagnostic Reading Test during the 1971 school year. From the analysis it appeared that only 42 out of 255 items were designed specifically to find out how well the pupil can comprehend printed prose. An examination of the items in the subtests on vocabulary and comprehension suggested that at least 27 of the 82 items could be failed by pupils for reasons other than inability to read. The materials intended for parents' use include samples of things parents can do to help with reading. The first samples are intended for use with younger children who are just beginning to read and contain activities for developing auditory discrimination, visual discrimination, and language development. Activities for older readers are suggested toward the end of the booklet and contain activities for developing comprehension, motivation, and language development. (WR)

The Responsive Environment Program for Spanish American Children (REPSAC) is a group educational program for "high risk" (of low birth weight and with various handicaps) Spanish American children. It aims to provide successful experiences for these children in both English and Spanish language learning and in improving cognitive and affective development. During 1973-74 (REPSAC's third year of operation), twenty-nine 3, 4, and 5 year old low birth weight children handicapped by physical difficulties, learning aptitude, perceptual and motor problems, language handicaps, and economic, cultural, and education deprivation participated at Clovis, New Mexico. The program was divided into comprehensive components: instructional, staff development, community-parental involvement, and media development. The evaluation design that assessed REPSAC's effectiveness used pre- and posttests. The abilities measured were: learning aptitude, language development in English and Spanish, sensory and perceptual development, speech development, school readiness, and psychomotor development. A periodic subjective evaluation of the students' self concept, observations, and interviews was also conducted. Some major findings were: students made significant gains in language ability in English and Spanish, sensory and perceptual ability, school readiness, and psychomotor development; students developed and maintained a favorable self-image; and parents maintained a positive attitude toward the program. (NQ)

This study investigated: (1) the use of financial incentives as a method of initiating and maintaining the day care mother's involvement in a parent education program; and (2) the influence of financial incentives on the quality of mother-child interaction and the child's self concept. The Parents Are Teachers Too Program (PTT) was offered for 12 weekly sessions at six day care centers in different Michigan cities. Three incentive conditions were operating: Incentive 1 paid a $5 stipend to each mother for each meeting attended; Incentive 2 provided babysitting and transportation for each meeting attended; and Incentive 3 provided no incentive other than the program itself. The principal dependent measure was maternal attendance at PTT sessions. Child self-esteem and the quality of mother-child interaction were also measured. Results indicated that (1) There was significantly more attendance in incentive conditions 1 and 2; (2) incentive 1 initiated and maintained more attendance than Incentive 2; (3) there was significant positive change in child self concept in all conditions; (4) Children evidenced greater positive change in self concept in Incentive 3; and (5) No significant changes on mother-child interaction measures were evidenced based on incentives or attendance. (Author/SDH)

The Child Parent Education Centers, funded through Title I of the Elementary Secondary Education Act of 1965, are administered by the Chicago Board of Education in areas characterized by a high density of low-income families. Approximately 2100 children, ages three through nine, are enrolled in the 11 centers which offer up to six years of education including two years of preschool education, kindergarten, and primary grades one, two, and three. The Child Parent Education Centers have the purpose of building, in early childhood, a strong foundation for cognitive and affective growth. The centers develop factors contributing to this foundation with programs using multiple techniques and approaches including: (1) direct parent involvement in the center program and in activites designed to meet parent needs; (2) elimination of factors, such as social and health problems, that may interfere with successful learning experiences; (3) use of learning materials which incorporate a specific learning approach; (4) structuring readiness and reading programs so the frequent feedback is available; and (5) directed experiences that contribute to skill development. Participants in the two year preschool program are selected from three and four year old children residing in the individual attendance areas. (Author/JM)

This monograph, a Planned Variation study, examines the impact of Project Follow Through (FT) on three sets of analyses, each of which approaches parent data exclusively, and assumes the relationship of parental attitudes and behaviors to pupil cognitive and affective growth. The first set of analyses summarizes the initial demographic characteristics, attitudes, and behaviors of the Cohort III kindergarten parents. The second set of analyses assumes the Project Follow Through should change the behaviors and attitudes of parents and examines indicators of parental behavior and attitude measured during the spring of a child's third year to determine if differences between FT and NFT parents exist both overall and within sponsor. The third set of analyses begins to examine the relationships which exist among the parent variables. First, the criterion variables examined in the first two sets of analyses are further explored by examining them in relatively 'uncontaminated' form by controlling statistically for a number of potentially mediating variables. Second, the influence of specific potential mediating variables on parent attitudes and behaviors is examined; and third, these data are examined to determine if variable interrelationships are different for FT/NFT within different sponsors. An exploration of parent information may provide both a background for understanding what is happening in the classroom and a perspective on the extent to which Follow Through is achieving its goal of increased parent involvement. (Author/CS)

This research paper is an evaluation of the Dallas County Child Care Council's program and materials for training day care staff. Thirty-five white, middle-class 3-year-old children and their teachers participated in the study. The children were enrolled in two separate day care centers which served as control and experimental environments. The value of the staff training is described in terms of its effect on the children's levels of intellectual and visual perceptual functioning as measured in pre- and posttests by the Slossen Intelligence Test and Frostig Developmental Test of Visual Perception. Prior to the initiation of the educational program in the experimental center, the staff was trained through workshop sessions on child development theory. All parents were contacted in regard to the research; letters addressed to the parents of children in the experimental group also requested that they initiate activities related to those introduced in school. Results revealed that the children in the experimental group made (1) a measurable, but not significant, increase in intellectual functioning; and (2) a significant increase in perceptual functioning. Directions for further research are indicated and there is a brief review of day care literature and programs. (SDH)

Based on one school district's project for the the 1973-74 school term, this report covers the activities of 10 rural North Carolina schools involved in an Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Title I, reading laboratory program during its fifth year of operation. Contents of the report include an analysis of the district's needs, a sketch of the context of the program, descriptions of the program's scope and personnel, and discussions of preservice-inservice education, facilities, materials and equipment, parental involvement, evaluation, and budget. (JM)

The purpose of this report is to provide information about the effectiveness of the Southeast Alternatives program. Major findings indicate that decentralization of the governance in the program has been accomplished through the establishment of representative advisory/governance groups; these groups have brought more, and different, people closer to the governance procedure in Southeast schools; the groups have included a variety of roles and organizational patterns; and these groups generally have not remained static. Groups that serve individual schools spend a majority of their time dealing with school-specific issues. More of this time is spent in planning programs and developing procedures for implementing those programs than is spent on budget and personnel issues. (Appendix B may reproduce poorly.) (Author/DN)

The Educational Voucher Demonstration began in the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District, San Jose, California, in September 1972. Initially sponsored by the Office of Economic Opportunity, it is now under the aegis of the National Institute of Education. This publication describes the socioeconomic and cultural setting of the school district, the relations among elements of the school administrative hierarchy, and their relations with outside groups and agencies; and shows how these interactions affected the progress of the voucher demonstration. The authors trace some of the developments as they occurred, and describe how the process of solving problems and adapting to new challenges changed the roles and status of individuals and groups involved in the demonstration. The report is selective and descriptive and presents only tentative conclusions based on the first year of the multiyear experiment. (Authors)

The publication describes a community learning center established in Newark, New Jersey, in 1969 with concern for children, parents, and people trapped by the limiting institutions of our cities, and which is composed of three program components: a day care center (for 60 three to five year olds), an after school and summer program (for 50-100 elementary age children), and a community school (for 70 kindergarten through 8th grade children). The center emphasizes parent decisionmaking, staff-parent cooperation, and open education; and racial and ethnic diversity mark both the student population and the active parents. (Photographs may reproduce poorly.) (Author/DN)

Funded in the fall of 1971, the project "Discovery Through Outdoor Education" serves the handicapped children of Macomb County (Michigan). The participants are physically, mentally, and emotionally handicapped children who qualify for special education services. Objectives are to: (1) improve youngsters' achievement in regular school subjects, their self-concept, interpersonal relationships, and leisure skills; (2) train special education teachers to utilize the outdoors for providing learning opportunities to handicapped children; (3) test an outdoor education model for improving the learning and lives of these children; (4) educate and involve parents in the program; and (5) train and utilize college students as teacher aides for handicapped students. During the 1973-74 school year, workshops and laboratory sessions designed exclusively for special education teachers, and handicapped students were conducted by the project staff. These were evaluated using either standardized achievement tests or criterion-referenced measures. The results, presented in chronological order, indicated the project was successful in achieving its objectives in the area of teacher inservice training; the mean gain of the students attending the outdoor laboratories was not greater than that of the control group; and the outdoor education experience did not have any impact on student achievement in the traditional sense. (NQ)

This report describes in detail a performance objective curriculum designed to help disadvantaged prekindergarten and kindergarten urban children attain the skills required to be at grade level in reading and mathematics and at the national norm in I.Q. by grade 1. The program is designed to systematically develop students' skills in 10 critical areas: listening, naming, observing, speaking, perceptual motor skills, writing and motor skills, classification, mathematics, decoding-encoding, and seriation. The essential components of the program are: (1) use of the performance objectives for individual and group instruction and as an evaluation tool, (2) forty-five minutes per day small group reading program with students grouped homogeneously according to achievement test scores, and (3) volunteer parent program which includes a parent committee and volunteer parents to assist teachers. The evaluation design and results comprise one-third of the report. (CS)