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The monograph addresses issues in needs assessment for the inservice education of teachers of handicapped children. Chapter 1, "Self Diagnosis Regarding Needs Assessment" (M. Walker), emphasizes the importance of local personnel involvement and provides a checklist for readers to assess their knowledge on the context, methodology, and application. G. Kuh, in "The State of the Art of Needs Assessment in Education," defines the concept and related operational issues and answers 15 questions which should be asked when planning and conducting a needs assessment. S. Davis ("Planning and Conducting A Needs Assessment") examines steps in the process, describes strategies for data collection, and reviews considerations for selecting such strategies as interviews, observations, the Delphi technique, and group process techniques. "Needs Assessment in Practice" by S. Davis et al. offers examples of the process in four local inservice education programs and identifies successful aspects of the needs assessment activities. P. Mann ("Critical Issues and Persistent Problems") discusses the importance of collaborative planning among administrators, community members, and teachers; and reviews the issues of credibility and program justification. In a final chapter ("Benefits of Effective Needs Assessment") M. Walker views mainstreaming from an ecological perspective and suggests that increased local ability to conduct inservice education can have a ripple effect on levels of the exosystem and the macrosystem. Among three appendixes are guidelines for constructing questionnaires, an inservice training checklist for regular educators, and an outline of a group process technique. (CL)

The village center model is designed to eliminate fragmented social service delivery problems in rural areas. The Whole Village Project at Plymouth, New Hampshire, offers interagency collaboration, local control and leadership, and increased client access to family and child services. Alternative strategies are outlined for development of similar rural programs. (SAS)

This report evaluates progress in including children with mental retardation in integrated educational environments and provides detailed tables providing state-by-state comparisons. A prologue by the executive director of The Arc, a national organization on mental retardation, notes that, for children with mental retardation, placement in segregated educational environments continues to be the rule of the land, with only 7.1 percent of such children receiving their education in regular classrooms during 1992-93, up only slightly from the 6.7 percent reported during 1989-90. A large discrepancy between integration data for children with other disabilities and children with mental retardation is noted. Vermont is presented as an example of the successful implementation of inclusion of children with mental retardation. Concerns of The Arc regarding reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are noted, such as proposals regarding easing of requirements to educate all children and elimination of categorization of disability. The main body of the report has sections which address: principles of inclusion in education affirmed by The Arc; benefits of inclusion; educational environments of children with mental retardation; national changes in educational placements; state-by-state comparison of the use of regular classroom placements; changes in the use of regular classrooms; state comparison of combined regular class and resource room placement; state comparison of overall use of inclusive settings for children with mental retardation;"report card grades" for each state; an overview of findings; limitations of the data; the quality of education received by children with mental retardation; and renewal of The Arc's call to action by the federal government, state governments, local school systems, and chapters of The Arc. (Contains 15 references.) (DB)

A survey of 100 college and university preaward research administration offices investigated the status of evaluation of these programs. Results suggest formal program evaluation is not a high priority among research administrators. Only 16% used formal evaluation, 53% used ad hoc evaluation, and only 20% initiated or requested evaluation. However, a growing trend is seen. (MSE)

This report updates an earlier study on educational placements of children with mental retardation, comparing data from the 1989-90 school year with the 1990-91 school year. The data indicate that regular class placements increased from 6.7 percent to 7.4 percent from 1989-90 to 1990-91. Resource room placements increased from 20.1 to 23 percent, while separate class placements decreased from 61.1 to 58.3 percent. Separate school placements decreased from 10.3 to 9.8 percent and residential facility placements decreased slightly from 1.4 to 1.1 percent. Tables indicate the percentage of students placed in regular classrooms, resource rooms, separate classes, and separate schools, for the U.S. and for individual states, for both the study years. Another table uses a formula for weighting different placements to compare states on the inclusiveness of their educational settings. The data indicate that for 1990-91: (1) Vermont, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, and Minnesota had the highest inclusion scores; (2) New Jersey, New York, the District of Columbia, Illinois, Maryland, and Florida had the lowest inclusion scores; and (3) nine states placed fewer than one percent of students with mental retardation in regular classes. The report urges governments, advocacy organizations, and educators to continue efforts to achieve the inclusion of children with mental retardation by the year 2000. (JDD)

A survey of 56 pharmacy schools gathered information on current content of drug information courses and clerkships and plans to change training methods as the Doctor of Pharmacy becomes the sole entry-level degree. Some schools will modify course or clerkship content, by omitting or shifting objectives within the curriculum. (Author/MSE)

Results of a national survey (N=485) indicate that most chief student affairs officers expect their staffs to write grant proposals. It also indicated that the number and amount of awards are increasing, and the most popular incentives are individual recognition and retention of salary savings within the unit. Detailed guidelines for student affairs staff to write successful proposals are presented. (Author/LSR)

This paper presents a summary of the current status of efforts to include students with mental retardation in mainstream educational programs. It begins with a summary of a New Jersey federal court's ruling requiring more inclusive education and a discussion of the commitment of the Arc (formerly The Association for Retarded Citizens of the United States) to greater inclusion. The benefits of inclusive education for students with and without disabilities are briefly reviewed. Summary data (for 1989-90) are then given on placements nationally in eight different instructional arrangements. The next sections provide national and individual state data on the extent to which children with mental retardation are being educated in the following instructional settings: regular classes, resource rooms, separate classrooms, and separate schools. A summary points out that only 6.7 percent of children with mental retardation are being educated in regular classrooms and that children with mental retardation are much more likely than children with other disabilities to be in segregated settings. Ranking of states by a weighted formula finds most states place fewer than 10 percent of children with mental retardation in regular classes. The paper ends with a call to action for policymakers and administrators in the federal, state, and local governments as well as Arc chapter members. An appendix provides a table of state data. (DB)

Nine national education associations were surveyed about inservice training needs assessment and types of training to assist in the implementation of P.L. 94-142, the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. Each association's inservice programs and needs are summarized: the American Association of School Administration, American Federation of Teachers, National Association of Elementary School Principals, National Association of State Boards of Education, National Education Association, National School Boards Association, National Association of State Directors of Special Education, and the Council for Exceptional Children. A concluding summary indicates four needs assessment techniques: analysis of existing records, use of surveys, collection of others' opinions, and observation and intervention. Among training needs reported were development of individualized educational programs, requirements of the law, and instructional techniques for working with children in the least restrictive environment. Publications related to P.L. 94-142, inservice workshops, and audiovisual materials were the most frequently mentioned type of inservice training assistance provided to association members. (CL)

The inservice training sections of annual program plans of 49 states were reviewed to determine states' responses to specific regulations. All states indicated needs for training, most frequently specifying the individualized education program as the area in which training was needed. Other high priority areas reported were least restrictive environment, procedural safeguards, and diagnostic procedures. Regular class teachers, parents of handicapped children, and special class teachers ranked as the top three personnel targets of training. Other components of inservice reviewed were processes for determining training needs, record analysis, strtegies for training, uses of incentives, sources of funding, and evaluation procedures. (CL)