This paper describes Florida's school choice program, instituted in 2000, for students with disabilities. It reports that, during 2000-01, the McKay Scholarship Program for Students with Disabilities provided scholarships to more than 1,000 students who chose to attend private schools rather than remain in their neighborhood public schools. It…

This paper explores what lessons can be learned from the experiences of states that instituted NCLB-like accountability systems prior to 2001 (here called first-generation accountability systems). It looks at the experiences of three smaller states (Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina), four larger ones (California, Florida, New York, Texas), and…

The Wisconsin Early Childhood Collaborating Partners (WECCP) is a grassroots effort providing leadership and guidance to state agencies and local organizations in facilitating the development and implementation of a plan to permit every child and family in Wisconsin access to a blended, comprehensive delivery system for high quality early…

This report describes the Body of Evidence approach taken in Wyoming to implement standards-based graduation. The Body of Evidence plan calls for more than a single test to justify issuing a high school diploma. Graduation requirement rules, known as Chapter 31 rules, establish the requirements for a diploma. The body of evidence is to be…

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 Social Studies. The document illustrates that courses of study content standards embody…

This summary provides key findings about state, district, and school level performance on the TerraNova examinations (CTB/McGraw Hill) in Nevada in 1998-1999. The TerraNova tests are used to assess students in grades 4, 8, and 10 as stipulated by Nevada law. Within this summary, a description of performance as measured by national percentile…

This report presents information on Colorado's child care needs and on the services provided by the Colorado Office of Resource and Referral Agencies (COORA). The report presents a brief account of recent research on brain development and implications for child care providers. Recent findings indicate that only 6 percent of Colorado's licensed…

This report contains information about the condition of education in California in 2002. It contains demographic information about students at California institutions, enrollment estimates for the rest of the decade, admissions requirements, tuition and fees, financial aid, teaching credentials, and degrees awarded. The report also contains…

Researchers have long investigated whether smaller classes improve student achievement. Their conclusions suggest that class size reduction (CSR) can result in greater in-depth coverage of subject matter by teachers, enhanced learning and stronger engagement by students, more personalized teacher-student relationships, and safer schools with fewer…

As states face increasing fiscal pressures, many are considering proposals to cut eligibility levels, eliminate outreach, and retract simplified enrollment procedures for children and families eligible for Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). This paper presents evidence on the importance of maintaining gains made in…

This report contains summaries of the results from the third administration of the fourth and sixth grade science and social studies portions of the Delaware Student Testing Program (DSTP). These results are part of a long-term effort to gather data on the educational progress of Delaware students and to use the data to inform decisions about…

Public education begins with kindergarten for most children, but an estimated 1 million prekindergarten children are also in public schools, and the number is increasing. In December 1997, the National Institute on Early Childhood Development and Education in the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement…

This annual performance report describes the activities and progress of the Colorado Part C early childhood special education program from July 1, 1997, through September 30, 1998. It includes information on: (1) the interagency agreements for providing services; (2) agencies involved in the provision of services and other supports in early…

Interest is growing in planning and implementing new systems of holding child and family services accountable for results. The Results-Based Accountability (RBA) Project at the Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) has supported and built upon recent state efforts to develop these new accountability systems for child and family services. The RBA…

Interest is growing in planning and implementing new systems of holding child and family services accountable for results. The Results-Based Accountability (RBA) Project at the Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP) has supported and built upon recent state efforts to develop these new accountability systems for child and family services. The RBA…