Almost immediately after he was named Commissioner of Education in March 2011, Stephen Bowen traveled to school districts across Maine and spoke to students, teachers, school administrators and community members about what they saw as the challenges confronting Maine's schools and what role they saw for the Maine Department of Education in…

The Colorado Strategic Options Initiative promotes the restructuring and redesign of education to enable all schools and communities to meet all students' and citizens' needs in the future. The concept of restructuring education may be seen as part of an evolutionary process from the 20th century industrial, assembly-line model to the eventual…

The four sections of this final report, which follow the initial executive summary, present outcomes of Massachusetts' 2-year effort to strengthen and expand high quality, affordable day care services. Section I focuses on the supply of and demand for day care services in the state. Section II explores aspects of public and private partnerships,…

The last decade in Florida has seen an increase in reform efforts and public scrutiny, but no evidence of across-the-board achievement gains. The state's capacity for forging coalitions and funding reforms is threatened by continuing political volatility, ideological and partisan cleavages, and increasing competition for tax dollars. (38…

In the executive report to the 1990 annual report the Virginia Board for Rights of the Disabled summarizes findings from the analysis of 47 federally-assisted and state-funded programs serving individuals with developmental disabilities in Virginia as well as a consumer satisfaction survey polling 309 Virginians with developmental disabilities.…

This document contains information about the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's six initiatives and comments from participants at the annual Policy Seminar, sponsored jointly by the department and the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL), July 11-13, 1994. The document contains the participants' comments regarding the…

Profiles three exemplary school districts that reformed and enriched education through technology. Township High School District 214 (Arlington Heights, Illinois), Washington County Schools (Plymouth, North Carolina), and Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools (Clarksville, Tennessee) demonstrated commitment to student learning and staff…

As a means of encouraging the formation of school-sponsored, citizen advisory committees, the Illinois Citizens Education Council embarked on a 3-year research and development project. This publication describes this project and thereby serves as a guide for organizing and using citizens' education advisory committees. Specific objectives of the…

Collaborative research effort between the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Office of Educational Leadership provided ethnographic data on the perceptions of principals at 22 schools participating in an educational transformation/shared-governance process. Findings show that awareness of obstacles to change is a necessary first step toward…

Intent of "A Nation at Risk" was to call attention to erosion of students' family lives, not to excoriate teachers. Reforms affecting only six hours of children's daily lives cannot succeed. Schools must reach out to help parents, and child-care workers become skilled at incidental (informal) teaching. Other concerns include technology,…

This report focuses on the new intergovernmental relationships developing between cities, States and the Federal government as funds are "block granted." The first chapter discusses the historical background of federalism and the redistributive role of government, and puts the "new federalism" in perspective. The following…

This report examines State level strategies designed to promote local desegregation efforts as reflected in pupil reassignment plans, housing desegregation, community involvement, and changes within schools. The case histories and results of successful desegregation litigation in thirteen States are discussed. Also presented are the following task…

Schools continue to face a wide array of issues as they seek to improve student achievement and strengthen the community. While community schools have been identified as an important model for addressing these issues, the challenges to creating and sustaining them cannot be overlooked. They are complex systems that must be established carefully…