Getting and keeping accreditation is critical for almost all colleges in the United States. Accreditation is third-party validation that a college meets minimum standards. Not only is institutional accreditation required for participation in federal student loan programs, but without accreditation, it is hard (if not impossible) to be authorized…

This report looks at actions Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) states have taken in recent years to improve the connections between public two- and four-year colleges, and it offers suggestions on what needs to happen next. To best understand the progress in their states, policymakers and education leaders should ask about the effectiveness…

Special program and other school administrators regularly confront the issue of whether students under their charge are entitled to receive homebound instruction and if so, what procedures and criteria they should apply in coming to a proper decision. Where a student is entitled to such services the administrator must decide what subjects must be…

The "Code of Virginia" (Section 22.1-279.3:1) requires school divisions statewide to submit data annually to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) on incidents of discipline, crime, and violence (DCV). School divisions began reporting data on discipline, crime, and violence to the VDOE in 1991. The federal "Gun-Free Schools…

This is a summary of the 120 bills and resolutions related to higher education and passed by the 1996 session of the Virginia General Assembly. Bills address issues affecting all of Virginia higher education as well as those specifically affecting the Council of Higher Education. Brief summaries of each bill follow a listing of all the higher…

This document contains two papers on excellence in business and education leadership. "Corporate Leadership in Improving Student Achievement" (Edward B. Rust, Jr.) explains why business must remain involved in education and discusses the following efforts of the State Farm Insurance Company to assume a leadership role in educational…

The Virginia regulations for special education have been designed to comply with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Virginians with Disabilities Act. Part 1 presents definitions of 80 terms. Part 2 considers responsibilities and functions of…