During the 2002-2003 academic year, six roundtables were held to explore uses of the data from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) for improvement of student learning. This paper describes the roundtable discussion held in Kentucky in December 2002. This roundtable focused on ways the NSSE can contribute to state-level efforts on…

This document is the annual report of factual information about New Mexico's public colleges and universities and their student customers. It contains demographic information about the students, their completion of degree programs, the tuition and fees paid, and financial aid received by students, and the revenues and institutional expenditures…

This report presents information about higher education in Arkansas. Arkansas is 49th in the United States in the number of citizens over the age of 25 with a baccalaureate or higher degree. Arkansas faces shortages of qualified teachers and nurses in regions of the state at a time when the number of graduates in these professions is declining…

This document contains a brief summary of research on the Success for All comprehensive school reform program and the alignment document that outlines the correlation between Success for All and the objectives and outcomes described in the Stanford Achievement Test: Ninth Edition (SAT-9) as designed by Harcourt, Inc. Research has found Success for…

This document is designed to show the connection between the required state-written curriculum (courses of study) and the state-tested curriculum (the Alabama High School Graduation Examination and the Stanford Achievement Test, Ninth Edition [Stanford 9]) in English Language Arts. The document illustrates that courses of study content standards…

The Steering Committee of the Mississippi Leadership Summit on Higher Education anticipates a future in which Mississippi is regarded as a state of promise and opportunity. This report discusses the priorities and initiatives of a shared framework for educational, economic, and social progress. All of Mississippi's children and their families, as…

This report from a 1996 Child Care Action Campaign national audioconference concerns approaches taken by Wisconsin and Minnesota in designing and implementing federally funded child care subsidy systems. Wisconsin Works phases out Aid to Families with Dependent Children cash assistance and redirects funds into job training, child care, and health…

The issue of high standards and high expectations for public school students has even reached the kindergarten level of instruction. The paper suggests that the informal readiness approach can be used with a more formal curriculum in order to prepare students for state mandated testing to ensure readiness for first grade. Many educators believe…

This brief addresses the benefits and concerns raised by the use of high stakes testing as the centerpiece of new accountability systems. It offers some recommendations for policymakers seeking to incorporate such tests into state accountability systems. High stakes tests can clarify and establish challenging performance expectations for students,…

This report describes and compares different methods used to calculate and report dropout rates; discusses advantages and disadvantages of each method; explains what is known about dropout students; and outlines actions states are taking to reduce dropout rates. Data are presented on whether dropout rates are lower now than in the 1980s in…

This paper discusses some of the ways in which state tax systems affect low-income families. The focus is on the working poor. Why state tax policy matters for these families is explained, describing some general trends in state tax structure among the 50 states. Attention is then paid to details on personal income and sales taxes in a subset of…

This document contains raw data on the various issues affecting the pre-K-12 community. The information was collected from Lexis-Nexis, legislative staff, state newsletters, school board/teacher associations, and various media. The issues presented here are in alphabetical order and are divided under three headings: state name, status of the…

In October 2000, the North Dakota Department of Human Services and the Head Start Collaboration Office convened the Early Care and Education Summit with the goal of developing a multi-year collaborative Early Care and Education Plan for the state. This document presents the Five-Year Visioning Plan, comprised of a vision statement, a mission…

This report describes five state systems of support in low-performing schools. Discussion of each state system includes a description of the accountability system, the process for identifying low-performing schools, funding resources available, the technical assistance provided, the provider of that assistance, and the resources used to support…

The P-16 initiative of the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO), which produced the essays in this collection, began in 2000. This initiative has included case studies of P-16 activities in five states and full-day discussions of P-16 issues involving educators and policymakers. These essays articulate what state educational systems…