Describes the operation of the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium, which coordinates planning for educational computing in Minnesota and delivers certain computing services to the institutions that lack the means to provide these services on their own. (Author/IRT)

The Governor's School of North Carolina (West) offers a six-week summer program designed to develop creativity in gifted high school students. (SBH)

The author considers the implications of minimum competency requirements for handicapped students, teachers of the handicapped, and mainstreaming. (SBH)

Compares the results of the first and second years of testing in the Florida minimum competency program to show that the program is working. (IRT)

This article describes the development of statewide system change in positive behavior support being implemented by the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs in collaboration with the University of South Carolina. Key areas discussed include the impetus for change, the development process, plan components, capacity building,…

Describes the development of a statewide strategy to improve resident outcomes in nursing facilities, and presents some evaluative data from this strategy. Results reveal that the partnership has resulted in state agency staff having information from analyses about resident needs. Suggests that other states should consider building partnerships…

Connecticut has two statewide student assessment programs. The Connecticut Assessment of Educational Progress uses sampling procedures to examine state program effectiveness periodically in 11 mandated subject areas. The Connecticut Mastery Tests annually monitor mathematics and language arts progress for every fourth-, sixth-, and eighth- grade…

Discusses the origins, makeup, and activities of child death review teams (CDRTs) used in 21 states in the states' quest to solve cases involving the suspicious death of a child. Advocates the creation of CDRTs in states which do not have them. (MDM)

Documents the need for seamless funding of child-care services, which allows families to move between child-care services that are funded through different sources without a disruption in service or a need to change providers. Describes the process undertaken by the state of New York to implement such a funding system. (MDM)

Describes a project at Florida State University that is designed to study competencies and develop test specifications for library media specialists. The 24 sources that form the basis for the Library Media Specialists' Test study guide are included. (MES)

The Texas alternative certification program combines school district-provided training with some college coursework, emphasizing work with at-risk students and internship under a mentor. Many midcareer professionals and minorities have chose this route. (SK)

Presents a procedure for standard setting that involves the cluster analysis of test takers to discover examinee groups that are useful for envisioning marginally competent performance or defining borderline or contrasting groups. Illustrates use of the procedure with a statewide mathematics test, and concludes that cluster analysis is useful in…

Provides information, for each U. S. state and the five outlying areas, on demographics, education agencies and schools, students and staff, and education revenues and expenditures. Contains a U. S. profile, ranking of the states, and profiles of the states and outlying areas. (SLD)

Describes the career of Don Carl Smellie who has exerted leadership in the promotion of new technologies for instruction in education, industry, and government. Discusses his founding of the Department of Instructional Technology at Utah Sate University (USU) and its efforts in distance education, technological innovation, international service,…

Provides an overview of the recently developed state accountability system for public elementary and secondary schools in Rhode Island. Discusses accountability systems as technologies of social control and considers the costs, benefits, uncertainties, and necessary tensions associated with accountability systems. (Author/SLD)