Right from the Start: Partners in Education. Project Manual. Final Report.

This manual describes Right From the Start: Partners in Education (RF3), a federally funded project that was designed to train pre-professionals in the fields of special education, nursing, and social work to work in interdisciplinary teams that provide services to students with special needs. Participating schools, community sites, and institutions of education formed partnerships to carry out four objectives: (1) provide improved services to children with special needs and their families; (2) train special educators, nurses and social workers in teams by allowing them an early opportunity to be directly involved in service delivery; (3) provide professional development for practicing teachers and college faculty; and (4) improve community and interagency involvement to support children with special needs and their families. The project used an interdisciplinary approach to training. College faculty were involved in direct services to families and children and took a leadership role in the community to serve as catalysts for systems change at the local level. The project included 9 college faculty members, 48 paraprofessionals, and 41 practicing mentor professionals over the 3 years that it was funded. Approximately 700 children were served directly at 8 school sites, and 54 clients received services at community sites. The manual describes the project's activities, benefits, model components, lessons learned, evaluation methods, and outcomes and includes lists of resources, eight appendices, and a glossary. (SG)