A new Commonwealth Foundation report praises Pennsylvania's tax credit scholarship programs, which create private-school vouchers funded through tax-credited donations. The report argues for the programs' expansion to meet increasing demand. However, this report has at least three major shortcomings. It trivializes the amount of spending on the…

The first eight years of life, beginning before birth and continuing through third grade, are a critical developmental period that sets the stage for future success. Research over the past 15 years has demonstrated the importance of high-quality care and education throughout the prenatal-through-third-grade (P-3) continuum, including prenatal and…

In 2006, Governor Edward Rendell announced a three-year, $200 million Classrooms for the Future program to provide technology and technology support to schools across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, beginning in the 2006-2007 school year. The purpose of this research study is to examine the change process of the diffusion of technology within…

This report describes efforts to provide seamless transitions from early to elementary education. Specifically, it details SPARK (Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids), a five-year initiative funded by the Kellogg Foundation, which has contributed a unique, community-based perspective to the national conversation on what it takes to…

This report summarizes the activities and findings of the external evaluation of the "Science: It's Elementary" (SIE) program during the period from July 2009 through June 2010. The SIE program is managed by ASSET Inc. and overseen by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE). SIE is an initiative aimed at improving elementary…

This guidebook has been developed to support and coordinate efforts across Pennsylvania to increase the connections between farms and schools. It is written for schools and school districts--and especially for food service directors, teachers, administrators, school nurses, and school health and wellness committees. It is also written for farmers…

Youth violence and delinquency are problems that continue to challenge many communities across the U.S. For over a decade, Pennsylvania has been a national leader in confronting youth problem behaviors in a progressive and proactive fashion, investing heavily in supporting local community prevention coalitions and the use of proven-effective…

This paper examines the politics of special education finance reform in three states (Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Vermont) that have enacted substantial legislative change within the past 5 years. These case studies were extracted from presentations made by the three state directors of special education at a 1994 conference. Each case study includes…

This document is one of a series of reports which describe the experiences of six state agencies that are developing systems to affect the development and implementation of policy in the federal/state program for vocational rehabilitation. The state programs are developing model program evaluation/management information support units. This second…

This final report describes strategies identified from interviews with educators in eight school districts in three states (Arkansas, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania) concerning the disproportionate number of students from racial/ethnic minority groups receiving special education services. The first section describes the methodology of the case study…

New economic strategies used by states are described, and case studies of the recent innovations in economic development policies of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Michigan are presented. A number of programs in other states are briefly reviewed, and various models of state intervention are evaluated, along with the principles that underlie…

This study of the first year of an inter-organizational diffusion effort by a national educational laboratory, a state department of education, and nine local school districts focuses on the implementation phase within the Research, Development and Diffusion (RD and D) strategy of an aesthetic education program which uses the arts as the…

In their 2004 State of the State speeches, the nation's governors cited many issues competing for their attention and their states' resources, including health care, education, crime, and security (Nodine 2004). Among the most compelling challenges were those related to economic development and the ability of a state's workforce to meet the needs…

A three-year project was conducted in Pennsylvania to design and implement a comprehensive model evaluation management information and policy support unit within the state vocational rehabilitation (VR) agency. Five mandated project tasks were carried out to produce products that are necessary for program evaluation (PE). Proposed Federal…

Farm to school (FTS) programs have been getting more and more attention these days. FTS programs aim to increase the supply of fresh, locally grown farm products served for meals and snacks in K-12 school environments, and tend to incorporate educational and experiential components designed to increase students' understanding of and engagement…