All-day kindergarten and class size reduction are two Ohio initiatives funded through Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid (DPIA), a supplemental payment to school districts with substantial portions of families living in poverty. This report describes the extent to which districts implemented these programs and the challenges they faced during the…

This paper examines the purposes and criteria of statewide program evaluations in higher education, focusing on the development of program evaluations in Illinois, and presents new statewide criteria for program approval and review. It also discusses the role of the Illinois State Board of Higher Education in approving and reviewing programs at…

This report presents the results of a national forum on the compensation of child care workers which sought to develop strategies to break the link between what parents pay for child care and what child care providers earn. A total of 56 policymakers, researchers, economists, and child care advocates met for 2 days to review current child care…

While current early education and care funding still reaches only a fraction of preschool children, some states now have considerable experience in coordinating subsidized child care, Head Start, and state prekindergarten initiatives to enhance early education and learning opportunities for young children. Drawing on the experiences of Georgia,…

This guide is designed to help Minnesota high school students in their educational planning and to encourage colleges and universities to state clearly their policies in granting college credit for successful completion of Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations in high school. The guide also represents certification…

Data from a variety of sources were used to examine the status of charter schools in California. Home to 415 charter schools enrolling 157,000 students, about 2.4% of all public school students in the state, California is at the forefront of the charter school movement, with the number of charter schools increasing rapidly. The average overall…

This report addresses the future financing of higher education, focusing primarily on the states and presenting state-by-state data on important trends. It assesses the outlook for state finances, and, in the context of the ongoing needs of other major state services, for state support of higher education. In examining the forecast of state and…

Provincial curriculum directors were surveyed and literature reviewed to determine which Canadian provinces have official policies on values/moral education and the extent to which the ministries are implementing these policies through the promulgation of curriculum materials and standards. Reasons for failures to encourage values/moral education…

This article evaluates the position of the Ontario Ministry of Education on moral education, particularly as evidenced in the MacKay Committee report, "Religious Information and Moral Development." Finally, it suggests some reasons why formal moral education should not continue to be part of the public school curriculum. (Author/SJL)

This study presents a longitudinal and intertextual analysis of educational policymaking activity in California over a 10-year period to identify factors that supported local policy implementation in a shifting political climate. Analysis reveals the essential nature of coherence, capacity building, and changed practices in building an alternative…

School district use of state educational reform is reviewed. Active users want to and can respond positively. A dominant coalition, which believes it can set its own agenda and sees the reforms as ways of meeting its own ends, promotes willingness. Systems for managing key change functions/linkages are essential. (TJH)

This paper offers a conceptual and technical framework for examining alternative approaches for funding special education. The paper discusses fundamental policy questions that guide the selection of an appropriate funding approach, presents criteria for evaluating funding formulas, and analyzes alternative approaches for their fiscal and…

This paper describes two Department of Education reports on gifted education--1972's Marland Report and 1993's "National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's Talent." It relates report findings to findings from a survey of states' policies. The paper calls for states to design programs that nurture talent potential of all students…

Twenty case studies of state educational decision making from 1971 to 1991 are analyzed to portray the changing nature of Minnesota's education policy system and to consider whether the often cited "structural linkage" typology remains explanatory. The reformist tradition continues in Minnesota in spite of revenue problems and societal…

This qualitative policy study of 6 states and 12 school districts identified 6 factors that influenced implementation of least restrictive environment provisions of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Factors included financing, the state-local context, organization, advocacy, implementors, and knowledge and values. The study…