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The Core Evaluation Team (CET), as required by Massachusetts' special education law Chapter 766, is staffed to perform all the assessments necessary to develop a comprehensive individualized educational plan for the child with special needs. To assist in the assessment procedure, the Massachusetts Department of Education provides a guide which includes checklists for the following areas: motor development, activities of daily living, expressive and receptive language, reading, quantitative reasoning, and socialization. A review of the literature shows general agreement regarding the deficits of formal tests, particularly intelligence tests. As an alternative to using IQ tests as a basis for student placement, the Education Evaluation and Planning Package continues the performance statement checklist approach to assessment and provides the CET with the information necessary to develop individually appropriate education plans. (SB)

Designed by the Massachusetts Center for Program Development and Evaluation, the Educational Evaluation and Planning Package (volume 2) is noted to provide Core Evaluation Teams (CET) with information for developing an individualized educational plan for the child with special needs. Each of the skill area sections--mathematics, language development, and social development--has three major components: a screening device made up of items (such as "connects a dot-to-dot drawing") which summarize the range of skills within a cluster of specific performance statements; performance statements comprised of a list of related sub-areas (including decimals, spelling, and safety) which provide the CET with detailed information regarding the student's strengths, weaknesses, and patterns of performance; and next-step suggestions which are designed to facilitate decisions regarding objectives required in the development of integrated educational plans. Also provided for each skill area are a blank performance statement form and an objectives worksheet. (SB)

Presented is Volume I of an educational evaluation and planning package designed in accordance with Massachusetts' special education laws. The package is designed to assist the Core Evaluation Team process, a multidisciplinary approach to educational assessment and development of individual education plans. The guide focuses on three skill areas: activities of daily living, motor development, and early language development. Each of the skill areas is divided into three components: a screening device; performance statements (a developmental list of specific skills to be assessed by the evaluator); and a next step chart (designed to provide a gross arrangement of skills to facilitate choices of next step tasks as required for education plan development. (LS)

Intended for teachers of severely handicapped students, the volume provides suggestions on systematic instruction based on individual assessment and curriculum development with sample detailed instructional sequences included. Explained in introductory chapters are the need for systematic instruction of the severely handicapped, major components of the individualization of instruction, and informal methods of assessment. The development of instructional materials and the instructional sequence format are considered in the section on curriculum development. The major portion of the document presents over 50 field tested instructional sequences ordered according to task and material. A chart is provided to help the reader locate specific sequences, with tasks such as matching, sorting, and recognizing; paired with materials such as objects, colors, and numbers. Each sequence is accompanied by a cover sheet listing the instructional objective, statement of need/relation to long range goal, prerequisite skills, materials required, means of initial assessment, reward/reward schedule, sequence and phase criteria, and maintenance activities. Some sample sequences are: motor imitation, simple picture match, color match, puzzle assembly, number recognition, object identification, and tactile discrimination of objects. Appended are a list of specific teacher competencies, guidelines for using the Area Learning Resource Centers network, and a list of component alternatives. (IM)

Provided are strategies for teaching activities of daily living (ADL), which include dressing, eating, grooming, toileting, and basic homemakine, to severely retarded students. Reviewed are the steps necessary to teach ADL skills: ADL assessment, identification of appropriate strategies and tactics, and task analysis. Explained are four common instructional tactics: shaping, modeling, fading, and backchaining. Also discussed are reinforcement procedures and methods of data collection and analysis. Examined are such behavior management strateqies as time out, punishment, and overcorrection. A final section reports on support activities which can assist in the development of ADL prerequisite skills. (SBH)

The author provides a systems approach to the individualized educational plan (IEP) process which provides the information necessary to meet the program planning, implementation, and review elements required by P.L. 94-142 (Education for All Handicapped Children Act), while encouraging the development of interdisciplinary cooperation and coordination necessary to meet the needs of the severely handicapped. Sections address the following components: assessment (including evaluation in such areas as activities of daily living); the educational plan (a sample plan is given); formulation of prioritized goal areas (which involves identifying appropriate service deliverers, identifying objectives affecting multiple skills/activities; determining support skills, and identifying support elements and equipment); and alternative uses of service plan information. (SBH)

Presented are instructional development procedures for teaching pre-academic skills to severely/profoundly handicapped children in public school settings. Curriculum development and research is briefly reviewed and development of instructional sequences is detailed with discussions of the following topics: non-instructional intervention, instructional alternatives, developing instructional materials, task analysis, and learner analysis. The principles of programed instruction and programed tutoring are explained, the components of an instructional sequence are outlined, and instructional tactics (shaping, fading, modeling, and backchaining) are described. Also reported are numerous instructional sequence formats (including frame sequence and phase formats) which can be used to record task analysis based on instructional sequences so they can be quantitatively evaluated and replicated successfully. Finally, the topic of sequence monitoring/modification is addressed and it is concluded that although it requires considerable time and effort, the systematic development of instructional sequences can have many benefits for students and teachers. Appended is a list of questions to ask about instructional aides. (SBH)

The manual of alternative procedures for teaching handicapped children focuses on programming, planning, and implementing training in the gross motor (posture, limb control, locomotion) and fine motor (facial, digital) skills. The manual consists of the following sections: specific teaching tactics commonly used in motor training stiuations including shaping, task analysis, reinforcement, and behavior management; abstracts of training programs developed by various training organizations; a listing of references (articles, books, movies, filmstrips) for background information for particular areas of motor training; listings of commercially available adaptive equipment; and a glossary of basic terminology pertaining to motor functioning. A major portion of the manual consists of instructional sequences for approximately 100 motor skills in the areas of facial control, head control, posture, limb control, locomotion, digital control, and bowel and bladder control. Each instructional sequence includes the name of the skill, a list of prerequisite skills, a recommended instructional approach, a list of appropriate adaptive equipment, a list of relevant abstracts, and a detailed task analysis. A listing of manufacturers of adaptive equipment is keyed to skill areas. Also included are bibliographies in the following areas: general, architectural barriers, home made equipment, media, and motor assessments. (DB)

Intended for teachers and others providing services for moderately and severely physically and/or mentally handicapped children and young adults, the manual presents strategies, procedures, and task analyses for training in daily living skills. Section I provides an overview of tactics for teaching activities of daily living (ADL) skills, including assessment, reinforcement procedures, task analysis, instructional methods, data collection and analysis, behavior management, and support activities. Section II consists of over 200 individual instructional sequences designed to teach specific skills in the areas of dressing, eating, grooming/toileting, and housekeeping. General references listing resources which apply to more than one sub-area of ADL skills are provided in Section III. Appended is information on currently available prosthetics and adaptive equipment, such as grooming and housekeeping aids, and a list of references. (IM)