The Maternal and Child Health Bureau launched the State Early Childhood Comprehensive Systems (SECCS) Initiative to promote the healthy development and school readiness of young children. This brief is a planning tool designed to assist states in conducting strategic planning throughout the initiative. It is organized into seven steps as…

Among the provisions of Maryland Senate Bill 682 was that mission statements would be developed by the presidents of public institutions of higher education in Maryland, submitted, and then reviewed by the Higher Education Commission no later than June 30, 1999 as required by the law in effect before July 1, 1999. Mission statements were to be…

The Family to Family initiative has encouraged states to reconceptualize, redesign, and reconstruct their foster care systems. By 1996, the initiative was being implemented in five states, five Georgia counties, and Los Angeles County, California. This paper describes an approach for nontraditional partnerships that work to rebuild the foster care…

The Georgia Occupational Award of Leadership involves local community groups and schools in the selection of student award winners, who are then judged in a statewide contest by business and industry representatives. The program provides an organized structure for continuous cooperation and communication between vocational education and the…

The article describes the Intermountain Center for Gifted Education in Utah which provides educational programs statewide for gifted and talented students. It is explained that the programs are also designed to expand community awareness of the needs of gifted students and encourage active community involvement. (PHR)

Kentucky service learning initiatives include (1) inclusion of Learn and Serve America in the state department of education; (2) leadership of the Kentucky Community Education Association; (3) increased state funding for community education; and (4) integration of community education and service learning through collaborative projects. (SK)

A review of Utah service learning programs leads to the following recommendations: (1) listen to community needs; (2) involve youth in planning service activities; and (3) collaborate with other community programs serving youth. (SK)

At Texas A&M University and the University of South Florida recent changes have limited some benefits of tenure. While these changes do not yet reflect a trend, some experts note that universities should deal with troublesome faculty members individually rather than by establishing rules eroding tenure for all. (SLD)

Describes the design and implementation of a mediation program for the resolution of child protection disputes in Nova Scotia. Focuses on the legal mandate for mediation, training programs for mediators, orientation programs for child protective workers, and the actual mediation process. (MDM)

This edition of "Bright Futures" highlights 12 states (Alabama, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, Connecticut, Guam, Maine, Pennsylvania and Kansas) that have received grants to support the development of an Early Childhood Advisory Council. Other features of this edition include announcements of state early…

One of the important misconceptions in the American view of poverty is that people are poor because they do not work. This article presents an exercise, the "bottom line," which helps dispel students' misconceptions about the working poor. Through extensive primary-data collection and assembling a budget for low-skilled workers, the exercise: (1)…

This "Report Card to the Public" is published in accordance with Alaska Statute 14.03.120 for the school year 2012-2013. 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. Public knowledge of the school…

Career clusters represent a nationwide effort to help learners obtain the knowledge and skills they need for career success, mobility and advancement by aligning what is taught in the classroom to business and industry expectations. In this article, the authors, education department officials from Nebraska, Virginia, and Alabama, outline the…

No Child Left Behind has become a permanent fixture in the world of education. This paper seeks to use the construct of figured worlds as described by Holland, Skinner, Lachicotte, & Cain, (1998) to examine the ways policy makers and teachers navigate the world of literacy education. Viewing policy makers and teachers as participants in…

State oversight for teacher preparation programs mostly ignores the impact of graduates on the K-12 students they teach, and it gives little attention to where graduates teach or how long they remain in the profession. There is no evidence that current state policies hold programs to high standards in order to produce teachers who can help…