This article highlights the complexity of and critical need for service coordination for medically fragile infants and their families through an in-depth case study of a child and his family who "slipped through the cracks" of the system. The retrospective analysis describes problems and suggests alternative strategies for more effective…

Policies and problems of education for the homeless are discussed. The analysis is organized in four main sections. The first describes trends, dimensions, and difficulties of homelessness among children and youth. This section is based on various reports, especially those required by federal legislation. The second section reports and interprets…

The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in 1997 signaled a major increase in time, energy, creativity, and money devoted to enrolling eligible children in health insurance programs. Child advocates and others have focused on developing outreach and enrollment strategies to bring the benefits of these new SCHIP programs to children…

The Better Care for the Babies (BCTB) Project was initiated in April 1989 to help states improve the quality of infant and toddler child care, especially for low-income children whose parents are in the labor force and/or making the transition from welfare to work. The BCTB Project initiated ongoing, negotiated, goal-directed technical assistance…

Educational reforms in recent decades have resulted in a proliferation of specific programs with dispersed controls and expanded levels of governance. As a result, the environmental context within which a school district operates is exceedingly complex. This case study describes the complexity of the overall system of reporting that has evolved…

The nature of educational evaluation and its interaction with policy in six state departments of education is examined. Case reports of research and evaluation units are presented for Virginia (by Gerald W. Bracey), Michigan (by David L. Donovan and Stanley A. Rumbaugh), Washington (by Alfred F. Rasp, Jr.), South Carolina (by Paul D. Sandifer),…

Five case studies of implementation of instructional policy changes at the classroom level by elementary-school mathematics teachers are discussed. The case studies focus on California's new Mathematics Framework. The interaction between teacher practice and policy is emphasized. Teachers' inherited beliefs, knowledge, and existing practices are…

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…

An introduction to five case studies of mathematics teachers and ancillary essays on implementation of instructional policy change at the classroom level is provided. The case studies and associated discussions focus on California's new Mathematics Framework, which features changes in textbooks, tests, and commonly held conceptions of subject…

A commentary on five case studies of implementation of instructional policy change at the classroom level by elementary school mathematics teachers is provided. The case studies focus on California's new Mathematics Framework. An organizational control perspective is taken in this commentary. (TJH)

This report examines various vocational rehabilitation models that serve American Indians and Alaska Natives with disabilities, with examples and case studies to demonstrate how the models work in real client-counselor situations. Stressed throughout is the importance of issues of cultural diversity, cultural competency, and self-determination.…

Various topics concerning assessment in higher education are considered in five papers. In "Defining and Measuring the Competencies of a Liberal Arts Education," David G. Winter proposes that liberal arts competencies can be assessed by creative new quantitative strategies and outlines five important criteria, or standards, as well as measures of…

Intended to provide basic information to policymakers and education-for-work planners, this report addresses both past history and possible directions for linking job training to economic development. In a discussion of the nature of economic development both international issues and economic development in the United States are covered. Discussed…

Five years after the massive overhaul of the nation's welfare system, 21 Maine families receiving public assistance spoke about their lives during welfare reform. The following were among the key themes that emerged throughout the conversations: (1) those leaving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) often remain poor or very nearly poor;…