This paper addresses issues of vertical equating for the Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Assessment and Accountability Program (ACTAAP) assessments as they relate to school accountability and determination of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as required by the recent federal legislation, the No Child Left Behind Act. The paper first provides a brief…

While billions of dollars of financial aid is made available from federal and state governments annually, little of this is available to the distance learner. Financial aid mechanisms often limit aid for students who are not of traditional age, full-time, or learning on-campus. This report outlines and defines the problem of financial aid for…

Children who lack health insurance do not have access to preventive care, placing them at greater risk of serious illness. This special report of the Voices for Illinois Children describes federal and state efforts to address the problem of uninsured children and issues that will need to be monitored as Illinois begins to help children access…

Discusses the importance of volunteerism and describes the school volunteer program managed through the Florida Department of Education. (JOW)

Eight states maintain Governors' Honors Programs for gifted and talented students. Programs in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia are briefly described in terms of content, location, and selection processes. The programs are seen as an important way to augment programing for gifted…

Some states are taking a greater role in general education reform, with some moving to rationalize general education requirements. Establishing transfer policies to promote educational coherence is bringing some order to the chaos of general education. (SLD)

Discusses the role and activities of the national Center for the Book and describes the activities of some of the 23 affiliated state centers that are now operating. Reading promotion projects are described, the all-private funding is discussed, and the locations and contacts for the state centers are listed. (LRW)

Discusses a project to determine the extent of family planning education in cooperative extension programs. The purposes of the study were to determine the types and extent of family planning included, to ascertain the most common delivery methods, and to identify target audiences. Includes a description of the programs identified in 39 states.…

Criticizes attempts by states to institute statewide testing programs as a means of improving school accountability. Discusses various examples of how this is being carried out. Presents four recommendations for testing programs. (HB)

This document is intended to assist State Education Agency (SEA) and Lead Agency (LA) staff and technical assistance providers in designing a meaningful evaluation for the State Performance Plan (SPP)/Annual Performance Report (APR) improvement activities. It provides: (1) information about the relevance of evaluation in the context of improvement…

People do not want to know the history, minutiae of policy, or operations, or even the political intrigues of a virtual consortium. People want to know if the consortium has value, whether it can help them, and if it is a threat. In this article, the author focuses on the operating principles and policies that have proven successful in the…

Time limits on benefit receipt became a central feature of federal welfare policy in the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA). Proponents of welfare reform argued that the time limits in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, would send a firm message to recipients that welfare is…

As an educational media, radio has a long and complex history in the United States, but its most extensive and important use in education took place during the School of the Air (SOA) movement. From approximately 1929 to 1975, commercial broadcast networks, state universities and departments or colleges of education, and local school boards…

This "Report Card to the Public" is published in accordance with Alaska Statute 14.03.120 for the school year 2011-2012. Under state law, each school district is required to report information about its plans and performance to its community. This report includes a statewide summary of performance results. It reports the status of public…

During fall 2007, the NGA Center surveyed states regarding the presence and nature of state early childhood coordinating councils, which may exist as Early Learning Councils, Task Forces, Children's Cabinets, Interagency Coordinating Councils, etc. For brevity, these coordinating entities are referred to below as Early Childhood Advisory Councils…