Emerging practices in both K-12 and higher education hold great promise in the establishment of equity frameworks. The use of finely disaggregated data, the effort to track additional student groups, and related work, all help to establish policies and tools to monitor the impact of reform efforts to address inequities. State programs and…

In an effort to support college affordability in the region, the New England Board of Higher Education initiated the "Redesigning Student Aid in New England" project ("Redesigning Aid") in 2014. Funded by Lumina Foundation, "Redesigning Aid" combined custom state financial aid research with expertise of national…

This resource was prepared in response to a request for examples of developmental screening activities in Early Learning Challenge (ELC) States. This information will be helpful to States as they consider how to identify and address health, behavioral, and developmental needs of children with high needs. To address this request, ELC TA reviewed…

The Massachusetts Department of Education's Accountability and Targeted Assistance (ATA) Center maintains and manages the state's School and District Accountability System. Results from the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) are used to identify public schools and districts that are likely to require state intervention in order…

Reported are results of a survey and evaluation of the entire system of programs for the education of the handicapped and disadvantaged in Massachusetts. The study focused on three major activities: identification and description of children known to have special needs who are not being served by official agencies; descriptions of life in…

Attention and efforts must be focused on the prevention of childhood injuries. Governmental agencies must increase their involvement. One model of such involvement is a program in Massachusetts which implemented a strategic injury prevention plan. Schools, health departments and other child service agencies must pool their resources for this…

Interviews with state legislators from Wisconsin (D. Bezruki), Massachusetts (T. P. Kennedy), and Virginia (P. Leone) illustrate the roles that evaluation is playing in the current state budget crisis. The influence of evaluation data appears largely specific to individual programs rather than systematically applied to the budgeting process. (SLD)

This report describes initiatives and services of the Massachusetts Department of Education for academically advanced students. The first section summarizes the department's state initiatives implemented as a result of the state's Education Reform Act of 1993, such as grants to enhance district gifted and talented programs and Advanced Placement…

Presented is the 1974 annual report of the Office for Children, an agency responsible for monitoring and coordinating all services for children in Massachusetts. Among the aspects covered are administrative organization; the development and implementation of a special budget for new and expanded children's services; the formation of 39…

Describes a grassroots organization of 500 educators from Massachusetts who attempted to influence their legislature to provide more funding for computers. Discusses the attempt to inform the legislators and the problems involved in the project. (MVL)

The handbook provides guidelines for implementing the Massachusetts right to education law (Chapter 766) through the development of regional collaboratives to deliver educational services to low incidence handicapped and severely handicapped children. Chapter 1 includes instructions on the use of the handbook, reasons for considering…

Described is the development of the Regional Education Assessment Diagnostic Services (READS) project, a collaborative organization of 20 Massachusetts school districts which would enable the districts to provide the diagnostic services mandated by recent state legislation for children having special needs. Among topics covered are the legislative…

The paper addresses the major ideas of Massachusetts' Chapter 776--the Bartley-Daly Act--which mandates the provision of educational services to handicapped children ages 3 to 21, particularly in relation to P.L. 94-142--the Education for All Handicapped Children Act. Sections address the following areas: legal responsibility for ensuring…

The Massachusetts Education Reform Act was passed in June 1993. In fall 1993, the Massachusetts Board of Education approved the Department of Education's Implementation Plan for Education Reform and appointed a board task force to oversee the implementation process. This document presents the state's first annual implementation report card for…

This collection of seven reports explores the changes in children's services that have been brought about by efforts to limit local spending and taxation, and by unfavorable economic changes. The four states chosen for analysis--California, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Jersey--represent contrasting economic circumstances and several different…