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This manual describes the "New Hampshire Leadership Series," a leadership training program designed to assist individuals with disabilities and their families to create a vision for themselves and to achieve positive futures. The manual is divided into six major sections. The first section, "Introducing the New Hampshire Leadership Series," provides the history of the leadership training series and discusses the effectiveness of the program. The second section, "Step-by-Step: Creating the New Hampshire Leadership Series," describes the necessary ingredients to running a successful leadership series. An overview of the series is presented, including the staff who run the series, how participants are selected, and how leaders in the field are secured to present during the six two-day sessions. The third section, "Session Content," discusses the format and dynamics of the sessions. Topics of the sessions include: parents' dreams for their children, practices and ideas for making dreams a reality, the legislative process and how to change laws, and community organizing strategies, and negotiation skills. Following sections of the manual include: "Funding the Leadership Series,""The Evaluation of the Leadership Series," and "Leaders Tell Their Stories." Appendices include nomination process forms and letters, application forms, session agendas, and budget and fund raising letters. (CR)

This guide for inclusion facilitators was developed as part of New Hampshire's Inclusion Facilitators Support Network, created as an activity of the New Hampshire Statewide Systems Change Project. The Network provides a forum for Inclusion Facilitators to meet, share ideas and strategies, and discuss the latest innovations in inclusive education. The Statewide Systems Change Project was designed to increase the capacity of school districts to include students with severe disabilities in regular education classrooms and neighborhood schools. An introduction reviews the trend toward more inclusive schools and considers the role of special educators as inclusion facilitators. The next sections consider aspects of the inclusion facilitator's role and recommend specific strategies in the areas of: (1) advocacy; (2) family involvement; (3) facilitation of peer supports and friendships; (4) curriculum modification; (5) collaboration; and (6) coordination of supports. Appendices provide: a checklist to evaluate a school's or school district's practices and philosophy regarding inclusion, one parent's ideas concerning the ideal individualized education program meeting, a flow chart of curriculum modification and student supports, and a list of suggested resources for curriculum modification and classroom strategies. (Contains 35 references.) (DB)

This booklet offers a humorous perspective on important guidelines for developing Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) for students with disabilities which respect the values of collaboration, student and family leadership, and full inclusion. Humorous section titles and cartoons illustrate important principles: "Developing an IEP Shouldn't Be Like Planning Someone Else's Vacation," which addresses the necessity for student involvement in the IEP process; "Writing an IEP Shouldn't Be Like Five Decorators Furnishing Your Living Room," which emphasizes that IEP team members need to communicate and work together toward a common goal; "Reading IEP Goals Shouldn't Be Like Reading the Manual for Programming Your VCR," which points out that IEPs should be free of jargon, use easily understandable language, and not be too long; "IEP Meetings Shouldn't Be Like Large Family Reunions," which contends that the group should not be too large and all participants should know the student and each other; "Completed IEPs Shouldn't Be Like Exercise Equipment," which stresses that IEPs should be used; and "And Now Presenting the Perfect IEP...," which states that there is no perfect IEP. (DB)

The 5-year New Hampshire Statewide Systems Change Project has provided training and technical assistance to educators, families, and communities to effectively implement the full inclusion of students with disabilities in New Hampshire schools and communities. This guide was developed to disseminate successful strategies for starting the process of inclusion, meeting challenges along the way, and planning for success. Section 1 deals with practices at the school and district levels. It summarizes the benefits of inclusive education for both disabled and nondisabled students, teachers, and communities, and outlines a systems change plan that has been successfully utilized in school districts throughout New Hampshire. Section 2 deals with practices at the classroom and individual student levels. It provides examples of transitioning students from separate, special education placements into typical age-appropriate classes in the neighborhood school; offers general guidelines on making inclusion work in the classroom; outlines a process for modifying the regular curriculum so that all students are active participants in classroom activities; describes ways of expanding classroom routines to create opportunities for students to learn skills not typically addressed in the regular curriculum; and suggests ways of providing unique student supports in regular education settings. An appendix lists 33 suggested resources. (DB)