Policymakers, child care providers, and parents face tradeoffs in determining how much to spend on child care, including how many hours to purchase, and the features of programs that might influence quality. Given these tradeoffs, it is useful to understand what constitutes quality, the cost of care features associated with quality, the effects of…

Background: In 2009, the Obama Administration announced its intention to rapidly "turn around" 5,000 of the nation's lowest-performing schools. To do so, it relied on the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program to provide temporary funding for states and schools, and to mandate drastic, school-level reforms. Most of these reforms require…

The American Community Survey (ACS) is a Census Bureau program that provides annually updated information on demographic, social, economic, and housing characteristics of U.S. households at every level of geography, from the nation to the neighborhood. ACS data are used by public and business decision-makers to more clearly identify issues and…

Seeks to understand effects of recent reductions of federal support for education by recalling both the original grounds for providing federal aid and the modes by which such funds are distributed and used. Suggests features of federal support and draws attention to possible consequences of its reduction. (BRR)

Reviews the multiple-state case study literature, highlights some findings, discusses several methodological issues, and concludes with suggestions for possible research agendas. Urges students and researchers to be more actively critical of the assumptions and findings of these studies. (Author/IRT)

Australian education is competing with other areas of government spending for funding, and its advocates must increasingly legitimize their claims. Education decision-makers must work to get as much funding as possible to its programs and ensure that program output accommodates the wishes of those producing them and those funding them. (MSE)

Reviews the literature on equal educational opportunity (EEO), analyzes data from a school attitude questionnaire and a specially-designed achievement test, and draws implications for funding of EEO programs. (WD)

A response to Vernon's article on Public Law (PL) 94-142 (Peabody Journal of Education, v59 n1) is given. Vernon's objections to the manner in which services are provided to handicapped children through PL 94-142 concern such issues as constitutionality, excessive federal control, cost benefits, and least restrictive alternatives. Alternative…

In Great Britain the Advanced Further Education Pool supports polytechnics and colleges. Although the "pool" of expenditure has been "capped," allocations for 1980/81 were dependent on the size of claims made by individual authorities. It is suggested that these claims bear no consistent relationship to past expenditure or…

Examines how and why the allocation formulae used to distribute Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I funds reflect a rural bias in American national politics. (Author/BE)

Three analyses on the State Student Incentive Grant (SSIG) program conducted by Janet S. Hansen of the College Entrance Examination Board are summarized. Two informal analyses and the following extensive analysis are considered: "The State Student Incentive Grant Program: An Assessment of the Record and Options for the Future" (Hansen,…

Factors in the rise of college costs are discussed, including increased expenditures, enrollment leveling; state and federal funding patterns, competition, and the declining numbers of traditional college age students. (MSE)

Results of a review of 34 contracts relating to bilingual education awarded by the Department of Education's Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs and the Office of Planning, Budget, and Evaluation are presented. The review analyzed awards made from 1982 to 1985 and focused on: the extent of and justification for contracts…

Explores both the allocation of resources to documents departments in academic libraries and the wide variation in local levels of support. Ways in which documents librarians may change levels of support through sources within and beyond their libraries are suggested. (CLB)

Describes how some schools are using funding from Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as amended by the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 to apply technology in the schools. Reviews specific requirements for allocating funds in targeted assistance and schoolwide program schools. (SLD)