This paper describes the approaches taken at a middle school to improve student problem solving ability and test results for the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP) mathematics tests. The focus was on grade 6. In 1996, 35% of the 437 students in grade 6 did not master the mathematics problem solving skill. A committee of…

The establishment of soundly organized local districts for administering the schools has long been a major problem in American education. Methods of dealing with this problem have varied greatly ranging from compulsory reorganization of districts by legislative decree to dependence upon highly permissive laws to be used or ignored as local people…

The No Child Left Behind Act required states and districts to begin offering supplemental educational services in the 2002-03 school year to students from low-income families attending Title I schools that had been identified for improvement for two years or more. This brief is based on a larger study that examined the first year of implementation…

The Illinois State Board of Education provides a summary of its recommendations for improved practices in the areas of preparation, selection, performance, and staff development of educational personnel. (FL)

This article contains the responses of 22 states (and the District of Columbia) to a request to detail career education activities in their states. Responses concern career education growth, characteristics, leadership activities, cooperation within education, cooperation with the private sector, and how career education has affected all education…

Briefly describes a Nebraska program in which materials were developed through the cooperation of university professors, teachers, state department of education participants, Native Americans, and others. (JM)

Discusses Alaska's Centralized Correspondence Studies program which offers arts electives to the state's rural, isolated, secondary students. Examples of student art work and poetry are included. (SJL)

This description of New Jersey's public vocational education program emphasizes its nondiscriminatory and innovative features. (SJL)

Information from state assessment programs may be utilized to identify the characteristics of schools performing in an exemplary fashion, so that effective practices can be adopted and implemented in other schools. Various effective school practices and findings, revealed by school studies conducted in six states, are distilled in this paper. (AEF)

Presents results of an analysis of the academic programs of students who have completed undergraduate degrees through Illinois statewide nontraditional programs in order to determine student preferences and needed changes. Outlines the components of typical programs designed by students. Provides guidelines for universities developing a…

The nine Illinois Area Service Centers for Educators of Gifted and Talented Youth provide assistance to school districts in identifying gifted students and evaluating programs for the schools. (CL)

Explores several methods through which to evaluate statewide electronic networks, and discusses key issues and preliminary findings that affect the successful evaluation of statewide networked services. (Author/AEF)

Describes specific K-12 policy initiatives of the State Board of Education, fiscal support from the government, and partnerships with the business community and higher education that are aligning and improving student learning outcomes in Maryland at all levels of education. (EV)

Examines the evolution of the telecommunications systems in Oklahoma higher education and the state policies that developed at the same time. Topics include early televised instruction for distance education; policy development and evolution; OneNet, the statewide network for education and government; and policy challenges. (Author/LRW)

Describes a statewide language-development program developed among Maryland's city, county, and regional library systems to help parents prepare their preschoolers for success in school. Discusses child development, the role of libraries, storytelling training, and preschool literacy efforts by the Public Library Association; and lists Web…