This paper provides an analysis of government-supported workforce development programs in the United States and selected states as of the end of 2024. We provide an overview of the topic of workforce development, defining this to include activities and funding mechanisms that aim to increase the skills of workers and help them succeed in the labor…

The most recent version of the Build Back Better (BBB) Act includes historic investments in child care and preschool totaling $390 billion. These investments create a child care entitlement for most children from birth through age five and universal pre-kindergarten for three- and four-year-olds, which would provide significant increases to access…

The Build Back Better Act (BBB) will provide significant transformative funding to support the fragile child care and pre-kindergarten (pre-K) sectors and more equitably serve America's children, families, and child care workers. In Understanding the Child Care and Pre-K Provisions in the Build Back Better Act, the Center for Law and Social Policy…

This report examines the characteristics of state special education voucher programs along with the evidence base on their impact, effectiveness, and quality. The report, which finds that the program characteristics differ considerably across states and that the research is small, dated, and often funded by voucher proponents, identifies major…

"Changing the Course of Family Literacy" re-examines the importance and value of family literacy programming and offers several policy recommendations to focus attention on the four-component model used in Even Start. This paper explores the current status of Family literacy and, after gathering information from 47 states, found that 11…

Many policies and initiatives have been proposed or implemented to address the unique needs of military families who face special challenges while supporting the service of their military member(s). Some of those policies and initiatives have sought to focus on military-connected children (MCCs) and the particular academic challenges they face.…

The purpose of this policy analysis was to examine the responses of selected states to the special education monitoring requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) with particular attention paid to the years after this most recent reauthorization. This study examined the legislative and litigative history of…

This annual report provides a national perspective on Title II-D for federal fiscal year (FY) 2008 (2008-09 school year), as well as emergent trends based on data from the past seven years. Title II-D is the only federal education program with funds explicitly targeted to support state and local effective uses of educational technology in the …

The harmonizing of occupational development with academic learning is not a passing fad. A primary aim of early 17th-18th century colleges was to supply regions with knowledgeable professional workers. The functional role of education continued to remain strong, as evidenced by the Morrill Act in 1862. The Smith-Hughes Act (1916), however, was an…

For the migrant child, mobility disrupts the continuity and sequencing of reading skills instruction and makes the maintenance of adequate progress records very difficult. A study, covering the years from 1965 to 1979 and tracing the development of selected approaches to providing continuity in reading progress, begins with a description of the…

The Morrill Land Grant Act (1862) granted public land to the states to establish agricultural and mechanical colleges. The land grant concept of bringing the services of the colleges to the farmers and mechanics was implemented by the Hatch Act (1887). Other important acts were the Second Morrill Act (1890), which gave monetary supplements to…

The current accountability movement in education is examined in terms of its historical antecedents and federal versus state initiatives and requirements. The assumptions underlying the educational accountability movement are then considered, and refinements and extensions to these assumptions are proposed. The accountability movement in American…

The document presents a broad overview of Federal involvement in adult education, provides basic information and a guide to primary source material regarding the Adult Education Act, 1964-1974, and suggests further research areas. An historical overview discusses the origins of the current Federal role in adult education through a brief…

Almost seventy years passed before vocational education was recognized in 1977 as a state function in North Carolina's public secondary schools, community colleges/technical institutes, and teacher education programs. Although the 1917 Smith-Hughes Act initiated vocational education, North Carolina education was primarily a local matter until the…

Offering an overview and informal appraisal of the Manpower Development and Training Act (MDTA) and its amendments since 1962, the study focuses on the vocational education program and the development of its legislation and administration. The 12 years of manpower training legislation from MDTA to the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act…