Understanding the development of major educational policies is essential, especially federal policies integral to Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs)--one of the fastest-growing types of postsecondary institutions in the United States, which collectively serve over two-thirds of Latina/o/x-identified college students. Accordingly, in this…

Public health efforts have emphasized changes to policies, systems, and environments (PSEs) to improve health behaviors for individuals and communities. Extension has increasingly emphasized these approaches, particularly for the work of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) agents. In part, this emphasis on PSEs in Extension has been driven by…

When No Child Left Behind (NCLB) became law in 2002, it was viewed as an effort to create uniform standards for students and schools across the country. More than a decade later, we know surprisingly little about how states actually implemented NCLB and the extent to which state implementation decisions managed to undo the centralizing objectives…

With increasing frequency, U.S. presidents have orchestrated relations between federal and state governments. A defining feature of this "executive federalism" is a pragmatic willingness to both borrow from and reconstitute very different types of past federalisms. A case in point is President Barack Obama's Race to the Top (RttT)…

Unemployment Insurance (UI) is the major social insurance program that protects against lost earnings resulting from involuntary unemployment. Existing literature finds that low-earning unemployed workers experience difficulty accessing UI benefits. The most prominent policy reform designed to increase rates of monetary eligibility, and thus UI…

This project examines how eight state education agencies engaged the charge of improving their lowest-performing schools. The states examined are among the most active and intentional in this regard. In many ways, they are at the leading edge of what could eventually become 50 different experiments in performance management. By focusing on states…

On February 9, 2012, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan granted 10 states waivers of key accountability requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. One year later, applications for this ESEA flexibility, also known as NCLB waivers, had been approved for an additional 24…

This briefing report provides information on recent trends in: (1) the number of households applying for food stamp benefits; (2) the number of households participating in the Food Stamp Program; and (3) the percentage of households whose food stamps were improperly denied or terminated. The data were reported by the 50 U.S. states, the District…

There are three areas in which federal grant outlays to California could be affected by reduced local spending brought about by the pasage of Proposition 13. The biggest impact on federal outlays probably will result from matching and maintenance of effort requirements in federal assistance programs. Both base federal aid on the amount of the…

The Elementary Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 authorizes 39 programs that are administered by the United States Department of Education and account for $8.6 billion in FY 1993. ESEA funds are distributed through three allocation methods: formulas, discretionary grants, and specifically designated recipients. Almost half of ESEA programs…

Every day, millions of three- and four-year-old children attend early education programs. The range of early childhood education program models includes, among others, state-funded pre-k, Head Start, and child care programs. Children attend these programs in public schools, private schools, colleges, businesses, community-based centers, and homes.…

States are required by the Medicaid law to identify and investigate cases of suspected Medicaid abuse by reviewing recipients' and providers' use of Medicaid services. The General Accounting Office (GAO) conducted an assessment of programs to control recipient abuse in six states and to control provider abuse in four states to determine whether…

In compliance with legislative authority, the National Advisory Council on Vocational Education approved a two-year study of the United States Bureau of Occupational and Adult Education (BOAE). The study was to be conducted in two phases. Phase I (reported here) sought out current problems in the administration and operation of vocational…

Special revenue sharing is a tool that can allow almost unlimited state flexibility in social service interventions, while primarily confining the federal role to the specification and measurement of national social service objectives. Goal specification and measurement procedures are crucial to the special revenue-sharing idea. Federally…

Presents a study of 207 employed AFDC recipients whose benefits were terminated or reduced by 1981 federal policy changes. Findings report respondents' source of income, household characteristics, employment history, expense patterns, child care, coping and social support strategies, health and health care, and psychosocial outlook on life.…