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The Long Island Workplace Literacy Partnership was established to provide workplace literacy programs for adult workers with inadequate reading, mathematics, communication, English language, and decision-making skills. Four corporations cooperated with the Board of Cooperative Educational Services of Nassau County in the project. The service delivery model was open ended and individualized, allowing for continuous enrollment, ongoing assessment, and ongoing placement. An individualized approach was used with students, instructional materials were workplace-specific, and instructors worked closely with students' supervisors to obtain input leading to program improvement. During the program, 294 adults were trained, curriculum was developed, products were disseminated, and the company partners demonstrated continuing commitment to the program. All project objectives were met except for provision of career counseling and other support services, which was deemed not feasible for the project. An outside evaluator noted the program's extensive successes. (Extensive appendixes to the project report include the following: a supervisor interview worksheet, a student interview form, a sample individual learning plan, forms for teacher and supervisor meetings, sample materials, staff training activities, a statewide conference presentation, job sheets, task sheets, checklists, and third-party evaluation.) (KC)

An evaluation was conducted of a safety education program developed by the Nassau County (New York) Board of Cooperative Educational Services for 166 special education teacher aides. The turnkey training safety program (TTSP) adapted an orientation program and an existing safety videotape and developed the "Information Handbook for Teacher Aides" to help prevent injury to aides as a result of acting-out behaviors of severely disabled students. Program activities began with the hiring of trainers and the development of the handbook. In the TTSP's third month, seven teams of turnkey trainers attended a 2-day orientation and training session to learn the strategies for peer training. Training of the 166 aides took place in the third and fifth months of the program. Participants completed assessment instruments that were developed as part of the program. Evaluation included comparison of numbers and types of accidents and injuries before training and after training in buildings where the training took place and in buildings that had no safety training program. There was a decrease in the number of accidents and injuries after training, which was accompanied by a decrease in the severity of injuries suffered. Participants rated the program highly and indicated their satisfaction with the information provided. Three tables and two figures accompany the study. (SLD)

An alternative high school program was evaluated. In 1990 the Program for Alternative Comprehensive Education (PACE) enrolled 40 students in grades 9 through 12 from 20 school districts in Nassau County (New York). Students had been assessed as being at risk for dropping out. The curriculum emphasized self-paced learning in an individualized, non-competitive, supportive, and structured setting. The evaluation focused on former and current students and their parents, school districts, and program staff. Affective outcomes, cognitive outcomes, and student outcomes were investigated along with the assessment of program components. Numbers of respondents in the groups surveyed and respective response rates were: (1) 13 PACE staff (87%); (2) 24 parents (16 mothers and 8 fathers) of current students (69%); (3) 19 administrators of 29 referring districts (66%); (4) 17 current students (49%); (5) 7 administrators from 15 non-referring districts (47%); (6) 16 parents of former students (21%); and (7) 13 former students (17%). Participation in the PACE program was associated with improvement in student interest in school, academic achievement, relationships with teachers and administrators, attendance, behavior, and social relationships. Twenty-three tables contain information about participants. Six appendices provide supplemental information, including the questionnaire used at the time of student intake and seven supplemental tables. (SLD)

Known also as the Summer Minimal Achiever Rehabilitation Training Program (SMART), the Nassau County work-experience program was designed to motivate minimal achieving students toward more positively directed goals. Of the more than 300 students referred to the program, 142 were accepted as enrollees. Program objectives were: (1) to provide significant leadership, counseling, and work experience; (2) to help students develop an awareness that occupational education is preparation for a full and rewarding life; (3) to motivate students to participate in community projects and contribute to the general welfare of others; (4) to provide individual and group counseling; and (5) to motivate the minimal achiever to seek higher goals and fulfillment. Staff consisted of eight full-time placement counselors and counselor interns and one part-time counselor. Counselors met with students at the job sites and provided close involvement and follow-up. Job assignments, where possible, were made in an area for which the student was trained during the school year. The program was highly effective as evidenced by the return to school in September of all eligible students. More than half of the document consists of appended job descriptions and related program information and forms. (EA)

During 1973-74 school year, the Nassau N.Y. Board of Cooperative Educational Services experimented with a Career Resource Center at one area neighborhood center. In 10 months this Career Resource Center served 3, 132 students and 387 professional staff, and developed and experimented with four model programs in career counseling and guidance. The central project objective was to integrate the Career Resource Center concept into everyday pupil personnel services at one area center. Other objectives were: (1) to utilize a combination of group orientation, group counseling, aptitude testing and multimedia approaches to career education; (2) to demonstrate effective career counseling techniques to school staffs; and (3) to provide service to junior and senior high students including disadvantaged, handicapped and potential dropouts. Model programs described include counseling, career exploration, employability training, and decision making skills. Audio-visual, career guidance, and psychological test materials were available at this center for use by students and counselors. (GMF)

Two separate studies were conducted to determine what factors contributed to and predicted mainstreaming of handicapped youngsters, and to study the impact of early intervention and P.L. 94-142 (the Education for All Handicapped Children Act) on mainstreaming. In Study A, 434 elementary-level special education student records were examined, and subsequent student placement 1 year later was recorded. Current IQ, data on the family's stability, and a rating of the student's hostile behavior, were the variables that tended to discriminate the most between handicapped youngsters who were placed in less restrictive educational settings and those who remained in a segregated special education school. Study B examined the impact of early intervention (no preschool, regular school, special education preschool) on educational placement in the mainstream continuum for 281 handicapped children, aged 5-8, and compared the amount and type of mainstreaming before and after the implementation of P.L. 94-142. No significant trends were found in either case. However, higher socioeconomic status of parents, regardless of type of early intevention, seemed to indicate a trend toward mainstreaming after the implementation of P.L. 94-142. (JW)

A model program was implemented to provide support and advocacy services to handicapped adults for overcoming barriers in obtaining postsecondary vocational training and employment. The formative evaluation included a description of the project's phases and the activities undertaken to meet project objectives. Major activities were recruitment, assessment, and counseling; career support plan and support services; advocacy/support and referral to community services; occupational employability and skills training; and followup support. The summative evaluation utilized an ex post facto group design that compared project participants to handicapped and nonhandicapped persons. All subjects were postsecondary students enrolled in various daytime programs of vocational training at the Nassau County Board of Cooperative Educational Services. Project participants and the nonhandicapped group performed with better skills and had lower dropout rates than the handicapped comparison group. Differences between the two handicapped groups were educationally significant on all criteria: instructor's skill ratings, attendance ratings, dropout rate, completion/continuation rate, and employment. The differences between project participants and the nonhandicapped group were not educationally significant on program or employment criteria. (Four successful case studies are also presented. Materials and instruments from the project are appended.) (YLB)

The study examined factors related to short and long-term employment outcomes for 320 adults with four major handicapping conditions (learning disabilities, mental retardation, emotional handicaps, and other handicaps) who participated in an industry-based rehabilitation program. Clients, who were placed in competitive employment over the past 10 years, responded to a phone or mail survey regarding their current employment and recent job history. Results showed that the industry-based rehabilitation model achieves its goal of competitive employment for handicapped participants (72% were currently employed at short-term followup and 70% were employed at long-term followup). Despite a significant relationship between type of handicap and current employment status, the majority of clients in all four handicapped groups were competitively employed 1-10 years following placement. The 10 client variables examined in the study did not significantly predict successful employment outcomes at long or short-term followup or for any of the handicapped groups with one exception: employer ratings of clients after 1 month on the job were significantly related to successful employment outcomes for the learning disabled group. (Author/CL)

The monograph describes Project INTERFACE, a 2-year collaborative effort among the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) of Nassau County (New York), Long Island University, and three local school districts. The project identified the "most effective" implementation strategies for integrating microcomputer instruction into ongoing educational services for the handicapped and then analyzed descriptive documentation of "most effective practices" as they existed in BOCES and local school districts. Analysis of rating scales completed by 25 experts in microcomputer education and special education found that more than 70% of the experts identified the following issues as important for effective microcomputer implementation: a formal needs assessment coupled with long- and short-range goals and a written philosophy/policy statement; specific budgetary allocations with incremental increases; systematic evaluation of all aspects of the microcomputer program; a districtwide coordinator position for microcomputer/special education; definite maintenance contracts and policies; consistent information dissemination; a districtwide committee for the review of hardware; separate computers used for instructional and administrative functions; a committee to review and select software; computer literacy incentives for teachers; inservice training. (DB)

Project CHIME developed and implemented strategies to promote effective mainstreaming of preschool hearing-impaired children, ages 2-5, by establishing a model demonstration program that provided, over a 3-year period, 20 hearing-impaired children with mainstreamed learning experiences in a variety of integrated settings through neighborhood nursery schools and day care centers. Preschool curriculum materials were adapted for use with the mainstreamed hearing-impaired children and a training program was developed for staff in participating schools and centers. An extensive parent education program for parents of both hearing-impaired and nonhandicapped participants was also provided. In evaluations conducted at the end of the program, the hearing-impaired preschoolers demonstrated increased ability to function and learn in a group setting and had made gains in social-emotional adjustment, auditory language comprehension, and language development. Project CHIME also implemented a comprehensive screening and monitoring system to ensure early identification of potential hearing problems and provide appropriate referrals. More than 2000 preschool children were screened in a total of 54 participating mainstream preschool and day care sites. Appendices provide descriptive case studies and statistical evaluation data. (VW)

The final report describes the objectives and accomplishments of Project COMPETE, a 3-year project in New York State whose purpose was to develop secondary and transitional postsecondary programming for training youth with severe disabilities in skills necessary to achieve a successful transition from school to vocational opportunities in their communities. The project developed programming to meet the future needs of a target population of 290 severely disabled youth (ages 18-21) in vocational, domestic, recreation/leisure, and community functioning. The project also provided education to 36 teachers, 13 paraprofessionals, and parents of 71 transition-age students. A summer pilot program provided training in transition skills to 10 transition-age students, six of whom were provided on-the-job employment training. Job coaches provided on-the-job training, travel training, and follow-up support to an additional 61 students who were placed in competitive employment at the minimum wage. A support and advocacy program involving schools, agencies, employers, and parents was established. The project effected an increase in the number of students placed in employment after graduation/aging out, and an increase in the number of students who received follow-up support and intervention while on the job. (Twenty-eight data tables are included, and appendices provide a job coach training outline, job analysis, assessment and job/student match instruments, and a list of dissemination activities.) (Author/JW)

This project sought to reduce incidence of on-the-job accidents by providing safety-related materials and training to teacher aides in special education classrooms. The project produced a 15-minute training videotape as well as written instructional materials from which a safety training handbook was compiled. Following preliminary assessments, the videotape and training materials were field-tested with a total of 160 special education teacher aides in a series of three 10-hour workshops. The handbook developed through the project addressed classroom management skills and provided information for effective management of daily classroom and crisis situations. To assess the effectiveness of the training after program implementation, figures were gathered on accident frequency throughout the Nassau Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES), measured in terms of days lost from work. Results found that accidents among special education personnel tended to be more frequent and severe than those in other BOCES divisions. Accident frequencies were found to have decreased somewhat following training. Results of the field testing are detailed in 3 figures and 16 tables. (PB)

Approximately 700 teenagers in Nassau County, New York become mothers every year. Most of these young mothers fail to finish high school, thereby embarking on marginal, nonproductive lives characterized by low earning power, long-term welfare dependency, more unplanned-for babies, and high-risk infants. In 1982 the Board of Cooperative Educational Services of Nassau County established the Teenage Pregnancy Program (TAP) to address the problems which put these young people at risk. TAP was a multidimensional program tailored to the needs of pregnant teenagers and oriented towards building positive futures. By providing intensive academic and psychological support, TAP aimed to help students develop self-confidence, better family relationships, parenting skills, and success in school. A program evaluation of 71 mothers previously served by TAP demonstrated the effectiveness of the program. Of the mothers served by TAP, 40% had graduated from high school, most had minimal substance abuse, and there was a low rate of giving birth to additional children. The results revealed a critical need for sustaining young mothers in the program over a longer time, i.e., beyond the school year in which they gave birth. (ABL)

Careers Program-Outreach is a project funded by the Vocational Education Act whose purpose is to expand career options for students, particularly the disadvantaged, and to serve as an incentive to school staffs to innovate and implement career development programs. The major emphases of this program are: (1) to assist counselors to develop programs which include in existing counseling services career counseling, and to experiment with new techniques and methods; (2) to introduce staff to the concept that careers have a place in the classroom, and to the latest concepts of occupational education; and (3) to demonstrate how career exploration programs for students in junior and senior high school can be effectively organized and conducted. Program descriptions, career education materials, questionnaires and evaluations are included. (Author/GMF)

This outreach program designed for implementation in 1971-1972 included descriptions of: (1) initial contacts with eligible secondary schools; (2) survey of attitudes; (3) large-group career activities; (4) school personnel training; (5) group and individual counseling; (6) career conferences; and (7) parent and community group activities. The target group for this program was secondary high school students in four Nassau County (N.Y.) school districts having disadvantaged population of at least 10 percent. Conclusions and recommendations for program planning for future years and other schools and districts are presented. An appendix also presents program materials, letters, exercises and data. (GMF)

Efforts by Nassau County, New York educators in the development, implementation, and evaluation of a replicable program for 2,500 special education students and their teachers in a comprehensive outdoor education program are described. Three major components of the project are listed as: (1) active student participation in activity-oriented interdisciplinary Homestead Ecology Program; (2) development and use of multi-media special education/homestead ecology curriculum materials; and (3) in-service training of special education teachers in outdoor education/homestead ecology. The groups served are identified as: emotionally disturbed; learning disabled; deaf/multi-handicapped; trainable mentally retarded; physically handicapped; and neurologically handicapped. Discussions are included on the pilot program which began in the Spring of 1979, and on the student, curriculum, and teacher components of the project itself, which was carried out from July 1, 1979 to June 30, 1980. Evaluations of the different components indicate that all students benefited from the program, with different groups of students showing growth in different skills. Teachers expressed positive assessments of all components of the program. (JD)