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Distance teacher education programs employing videoconferencing technology and other online teaching tools are increasingly being used to prepare teachers of students with disabilities in rural and remote communities. This evaluation study compared the effectiveness of a distance and an on-campus teacher education program for teachers of students with severe disabilities. Teacher candidates in the distance cohort received the same program of study as candidates in the on-campus program except that the coursework was delivered through videoconferencing technology instead of traditional, face-to-face instruction. Instructional activities for candidates in both cohorts were supported through online instructional tools (i.e., Web CT) and on-site field supervision from university clinical faculty members and cooperating professionals from the local school districts. A variety of measures were used to assess candidates' acquisition of content and their ability to apply the knowledge and skills acquired through the program of study. The results indicate that there were no significant differences between students in the distance and on-campus teacher education cohorts on the measures of learning. The implications of the findings for further research are discussed. (Contains 2 tables.)

Focuses on the role of the Mannheim Stadtarchiv, a large city archive, in the development of other archival institutions in Germany. Collection of mounted newspaper clippings; Pictorial documentation; Benefits of self-publicizing policy.

Background: There is little evidence to compare the effectiveness of large collaborative quality improvement versus individual local projects., Methods: This was a prospective pre-post intervention study of neonatal resuscitation practice, comparing 3 groups of nonrandomized hospitals in the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative: (1) collaborative, hospitals working together through face-to-face meetings, webcasts, electronic mailing list, and data sharing; (2) individual, hospitals working independently; and (3) nonparticipant hospitals. The collaborative and individual arms participated in improvement activities, focusing on reducing hypothermia and invasive ventilatory support., Results: There were 20 collaborative, 31 individual, and 44 nonparticipant hospitals caring for 12,528 eligible infants. Each group had reduced hypothermia from baseline to postintervention. The collaborative group had the most significant decrease in hypothermia, from 39% to 21%, compared with individual hospital efforts of 38% to 33%, and nonparticipants of 42% to 34%. After risk adjustment, the collaborative group had twice the magnitude of decrease in rates of newborns with hypothermia compared with the other groups. Collaborative improvement also led to greater decreases in delivery room intubation (53% to 40%) and surfactant administration (37% to 20%)., Conclusions: Collaborative efforts resulted in larger improvements in delivery room outcomes and processes than individual efforts or nonparticipation. These findings have implications for planning quality improvement projects for implementation of evidence-based practices., (Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)