Amid the cacophony of special interests fighting to be heard in statehouses and on Capitol Hill, a cadre of current and former chief state school officers is elbowing its way into the nation's education debate at a time when states are taking more control of K-12 education. A little more than a year old, Chiefs for Change is an invitation-only…

Under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), state education agencies are required to assume new roles and responsibilities. Among these is the establishment of a state system to support schools identified for improvement under the Act. Conceptualizing and operationalizing these systems of support has been a challenge for many state agencies, in part…

Charter schools, although a stage for potential educational reform and innovation, remain subject to federal laws regarding the education of students with disabilities. As they intersect with federal law, the variance of state charter laws and policy surrounding the provision of special education creates a challenging context for helping charters…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was passed with a promise to "change the culture of America's schools." A focus on accountability for results is among its main vehicles for transformation, including the requirement that significant action be taken in schools and districts that continue to underperform academically. Toward that end, NCLB…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress was used as the primary model in a multistate workshop on the assessment of educational programs. One day each was devoted to the development of objectives, exercise development, sampling, administration and scoring, data analysis, and reporting and dissemination. This document concerns itself…

This set of primers for charter school authorizers; charter school operators and state-level administrators has been developed to provide background information and resources for the "builders" of charter schools and policymakers to facilitate the successful inclusion of students with disabilities in charter schools. The primers open…

This report presents the results of a telephone survey conducted in 1997 and 1998 of the 50 State Higher Education Finance Officers in regard to performance budgeting and performance funding of public higher education. It was found that 21 states used some form of performance budgeting in public higher education in 1998, up from 16 in 1997, and…

This study examined the attitudes of State Higher Education Finance Officers (SHEFOs) in regard to performance budgeting and performance funding of public higher education. A telephone survey of all 50 SHEFOs or alternate officers was conducted in June 1998, and the results were then compared to a similar survey conducted in April 1997. It was…

This study examined the attitudes of state education policymakers and campus representatives in regard to performance funding and budgeting in public higher education. A mailed survey of 916 state education policymakers, campus administrators, deans, and faculty senate chairs in nine states was conducted in December 1996, and a follow-up telephone…

State intervention in higher education is discussed, and state and federal regulations that affect higher education are discussed and contrasted. The structures and procedures by which states intervene in higher education are outlined, and the issue of institutional autonomy is considered. Policy areas through which the state can affect higher…