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This report, divided into two sections, presents the findings of an investigation to gather data on the present utilization and training of paraprofessionals in the field of the handicapped and outlines career ladder and training models for paraprofessionals and special education teachers. The following methods were used to gather data: (a) literature review, (b) survey to state directors of special education, (c) survey to professional organizations, (d) survey to private and state schools, and (e) on-site visits. The investigation revealed the following: (a) the lack of training received by paraprofessionals and (b) the need for training paraprofessionals emphasized by professional organizations, private and state schools, administrators, special education teachers, and other paraprofessionals. The second section focuses on the training of paraprofessionals to work in education programs for handicapped children. Generally issues concerning training designs are reviewed; models are proposed that may serve as a base of reference for establishing training models for paraprofessionals and for teachers working with paraprofessionals; a model career ladder is detailed; and samples of task anayses on specific content areas of the special education curriculum are presented. Samples of the mail questionnaires and lists of professional organizations, colleges involved in training paraprofessionals, and selected training programs are included in the appendixes. (PD)

Major emphasis has been placed on preparing students for college. Studies indicate that most of the job openings available between now and 1980 will not require a college education; however, a large number of them will require specialized training. Programs need to be initiated or expanded for occupations promising substantial demand and program areas with declining demand and large enrollments need to be curtailed or perhaps eliminated. Since emerging economic trends have their roots in the past, an historical perspective is required to assess the labor force status of the three major ethnic groups in Texas (Mexican Americans, blacks, and Anglos). Each student's aptitudes and interests must also match the training undertaken. This report examines: (1) the occupational education programs available to students in grades 9-12 in 11 Texas public school districts; (2) vocational education enrollment patterns for the State as a whole and for these school districts; (3) vocational enrollment patterns in comparison to the State's manpower requirements; (4) the economy in terms of industry structure and occupational composition; (5) expected changes in the industrial structure and their effect on occupational demand; and (6) implications of the occupational demand trends in terms of current patterns and emerging trends in high school occupational education. The appendixes consist of tabular data by ethnic group for vocational enrollment (State and district) and occupational employment (State and city). (NQ)

Presented is the seventh annual report of the President's Committee on Mental Retardation (PCMR). Stressed are the members' beliefs in the capability of continuing development by mentally retarded people, in early detection and correction of handicaps, and in prevention through prenatal and neonatal biomedical intervention. Emphasized is the necessity for client-centered programs, with evaluation based on the amount of client improvement as a result of service. Described in the first section of the report are steps toward growing functional independence in educational, employment, and living situations by individual children and adults due to goal-oriented, personalized programs at such agencies as a children's center, a state school, a hospital for the multiply handicapped, a sheltered workshop, and a group home. The second section contains material related to prevention of mental retardation and early intervention programs, including discussions of prenatal research into the causes of handicapping conditions, methods of transporting high-risk infants, early childhood programs, and treatment to prevent long-term institutionalization. Covered in the third section are PCMR activities during 1973 with regard to areas such as legal rights, early childhood intervention, preparation for community living, housing and public information. The report includes photographs and the transcript of a group discussion by eight mentally retarded adolescents. (LH)

This report examines the Ford Foundation's efforts in developing and implementing alternative schools to the public schools or in providing seed money to new alternatives designed for public support. The publication begins with a look at the origin of the alternative school movement and then describes several kinds of school alternatives assisted by the Foundation in recent years, such as the Philadelphia Parkway Program, a school without walls; the East Harlem Block Schools, two day-care centers and a private elementary school scattered in three large storefronts in different locations; and the Massachusetts Experimental School System, established as a model for other school systems in the State. The Foundation advocates public funding as the long-term solution to the question of survival for most alternative schools. (Photographs may reproduce poorly.) (Author/DN)

This paper states that the real issue in multicultural education is to gain a clear sense of cultural dynamics as they affect education and to develop effective strategies for guaranteeing real equity in educational opportunity for all. The author discusses some essentials of multicultural education. First, the following nine essential considerations should be contained in multicultural education programs: (a) the teaching process is always a cross cultural encounter; (b) all teaching tools are culture bound; (c) the classroom is a potent matrix; and (d) the teacher must understand that all minds are equally complex. Second, teachers must develop the following skills to teach students from other cultures: (a) the ability to communicate; (b) the ability to diagnose knowledge and capabilities; (c) the ability to evaluate the professional literature bearing upon multicultural education problems; (d) the ability to diagnose oneself; and (e) the ability to recognize cultural equivalencies. Third, three basic attitudes that should emerge as teachers work cross-culturally are described. Fourth, the clinical context for multicultural teacher education is described in seven essentials. The author concludes that there is hope for success in improving the ability of teachers to work with children from different cultures if training programs give the highest priority to this problem and if the successful cross-cultural experiences of teachers of all races and socio-economic background are used as a guide. (A 17-item bibliography is included.) (PD)

This report focuses on the current status of environmental education in the U.S. and a number of selected countries around the world. The scope and primary concerns of environmental education are defined, and the stimulus created by the United Nations Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment is discussed. On the international scene environmental program in Australia, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Ecuador, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan, Malta, the United Kingdom, and Zambia are examined, and the contributions of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and UNESCO are outlined. Within the U.S. environmental education programs have changed significantly over the past decade (1964-74). Results of studies are presented to indicate the environmental attitudes and knowledge of tenth and twelfth grade students, the extent of environmental courses being offered in undergraduate college programs, and of environmental education courses available in teacher education institutions. Also discussed are exemplary program models, the designation of state environmental education coordinators, and the extensive environmental materials now available. The report concludes that the citizens of Spaceship Earth are becoming aware of their environmental responsibilities and are actively seeking the institutional arrangements, educational programs, and behaviors essential to securing a quality enviornment and life-style. (JR)

Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I migrant programs focus on identifying and meeting the needs of migrant children through remedial instruction, health, nutrition and psychological services, cultural development, and prevocational training and counseling. Evaluating the impact of Title I programs for migrant children, the study determined the success of the Federal program in meeting the migrant child's needs. The sample consisted of 100 projects in 10 States. Analysis was done by compiling answers by subject and type of respondent and aggregating the data by State. This volume (II) of the 4 volume evaluation reports on the qualitative and quantitative assessment of the impact of the State education agency and local education agency levels. Information is also given on factors accounting for observed variations in impact and the extent to which Federal funds were used to supplant, rather than supplement, other funding sources. Topics covered are: (1) impact of the Migrant Education Program on migrant students; (2) services provided to migrant students by the Migrant Education Program; (3) paraprofessional program aides; (4) home-school relationships; (5) advisory councils; (6) staff attitudes; and (7) parental attitudes. The majority of the information is in tabular form. (NQ)

The need for a "career consciousness throughout the educational system" was defined as necessary if comprehensive programs, early childhood through adulthood, were to evolve within educational institutions in New York State. This report summarizes the activities undertaken by the Cornell Institute for Research and Development in Occupational Education in cooperation with the Bureau of Inservice Education, State Education Department in developing a statewide strategy to implement the Career Education concept. The approach was a strategy of change through a three-year cycle of staff development, focusing on elementary school personnel the first year, middle school personnel the second year, and secondary level personnel the third year. The complete schematic illustrating needs assessment, program planning, implementation, process evaluation, and outcome evaluation is provided in the 42-page appendix. Four memoranda designating goals and behavioral objectives for the program, completing the model, and further implementing the strategy design are also presented. (Author/MW)

Described are residential and educational services provided for mentally retarded (MC) children and adults in Sweden. Normalization is the focus of the services which make maximum use of mental and physical capacities to reduce the handicap of mental retardation. Described are general principles, and four stages involving development of services (diagnosis, specialization, differentiation, and decentralization). Administrative facts and regulations are explained in terms of authorities responsible, legislation, and planning of services according to legislation. Discussed in a section on epidemiology and etiology are aspects such as early identification of the MR, causes and additional handicaps, incidence, and trends (indicating a decrease in number of cases of children and increase of adult cases). Principles of residential care which are discussed include community group homes, social adaptation, single room provision, provision for small heterogeneous groups, and integration by sex. The following are among services described: special schools and boarding homes for children, preschools and nurseries, vocational education, residential homes for children and adults, standards for residential facilities, day care services, sheltered workshops, and services for leisure activities. Explained are individual rights of MR persons, costs of care, and responsibility of authorities in safeguarding rights of the MR. Discussed are ancillary services such as nursing care, child psychiatry, and pediatrics; and noted are trends toward normalization of services. (MC)

The authors have been involved in the development of training programs for school psychologists and teachers. A major objective of these efforts is to capitalize on interdisciplinary collaboration to equip future educational workers to understand the needs of children and the process of education as one of dynamic change. This paper describes the training programs for school psychologists and prospective social studies teachers at the University of California, Berkeley. The school psychologist trainees worked with the student teachers in providing mental health consultation. Results indicate that the optimum time for consultation intervention for beginning teachers is during their earliest exposure to the classroom experience. For school psychologists, the period is earlier, often during their second year of training. (Author/HMV)

It is the position of the Michigan Industrial Education Society, Inc. that industrial arts can and should play an essential role in meeting the provisions of the 1974-75 Michigan State Plan for Vocational Education which serve the career development needs of students from elementary through adult levels. The value of industrial arts was recognized in the emergencies of career education and in the Educational Amendments of 1972. A definition of industrial arts included its concern with the interaction and interface between society, man, and technology. Career education in Michigan is developing on basis of identified life roles being legitimate concepts to guide educational program development. Industrial arts contributes to many facets of career education. In career development, particularly, it has specific roles and responsibilities. Five recommendations for future action by groups and individuals in industrial arts and in education in general are presented in the light of concern with the developmental status of career education, compliance with the accountability model, and lack of fiscal appropriations. (Author/AG)

Project HEED's (Heed Ethnic Education Deplorization) main emphasis in 1974-75 was to develop reading and cultural awareness skills for kindergarten through 4th grades in the 7 project schools on American Indian reservations in Arizona. In its 4th year of operation, the project (funded under Elementary and Secondary Education Title III) involved 725 Indian students in grades K-3 at St. Charles Mission, Hotevilla, Sells, Rice, and Many Farms and in K-4 at Sacaton and Peach Springs. For the project's fourth evaluation, all the students were administered the pre and posttest SRA Reading Achievement tests and the DISTAR Mastery tests. A minimum of 2 visits were made to all sites, except Hotevilla, during the year. Some of the project's successes were; (1) significant gains were attained at all schools; (2) changes in average grade level equivalence ranged from 4 to 7 months; and (3) in terms of national posttest norms, only 1 school achieved as high as the national median score of the 50th percentile. This report covers 3 basic areas of the evaluation: (1) reading performance by SRA (WRAT) and DISTAR Reading Mastery test; (2) development of reading objectives; and (3) cultural awareness activities. The reading scores are reported both as grade level changes and as percentile changes. (NQ)

This publication is the second in a series of reports on educational buildings. This report deals with the multioption school, a special type of secondary school designed to offer a broad choice of educational options and activities in response to changing educational and social needs. The report analyzes problems raised by the design and construction of multioption schools and discusses the process of transforming theoretical models into practical buildings and equipment. The analysis emphasizes the need to base design projects and the briefing process on a study of the school's functions. In addition, the author examines ways to reconcile educational needs and various constraints through interdisciplinary cooperation, research and development, and teacher participation. Contained in the report are five case studies, which include plans, diagrams, and photographs of new school projects in Canada, Germany, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. (Author/JG)

The purpose of this paper is to provide an awareness of the broad variety of educational programs which use the community or the work environment as a part of the curricula, to help school officials realize the benefits of using the work environment to enhance the educational program, andto suggest ways of installing occupational experience programs--either general work experience or cooperative occupational education--in local schools. Properly funded, conceptualized, planned, coordinated and implemented occupational experience programs are one of the great "untapped resources" for making education relevant for many students. Some type of occupational experience program should be an integral part of every school system in the nation. (Author/PC)

The report describes the Phase I findings of a two-phase study to determine the applications of commercial contract training to the Navy Training System. The objective of the study is to determine if commercial sources would be cost and training effective alternatives for current and peak Navy skill training requirements. The study was conducted by an interdisciplinary team of engineering, educational, and operations research personnel working for a period of 10 months. A limited number of Navy "hard skills" were selected for analysis as potential candidates for commercial contract training. Representative elements of the Department of Defense, other governmental training agencies, industry, and non-federal post-secondary training institutions were investigated in detail. This report provides a sampling of the various training programs, management systems, technological advances, instructional techniques, and curriculum and financial management practices potentially applicable to the Navy training system. Conclusions describe some of the characteristics and trends in civilian training programs and indicate a generally favorable reception to the concept of commercial contract training. (Author/MDW)