This manual was designed primarily for use by individuals with developmental disabilities and related conditions. It is hoped that it is also useful for families, as well as service coordinators and providers who directly assist families and individuals with developmental disabilities. The main focus of this manual is to provide easy-to-read…

Multilevel programs--that is, programs with multiple levels of administration, funding, and implementation--present dynamic and challenging environments for the conduct and use of evaluation. The challenges include questions, priorities, audiences, and purposes that vary at each level. This chapter discusses the challenges as well as the…

State child care policies can promote the quality and continuity of early childhood experiences and foster the healthy growth and development of babies and toddlers in all child care settings, especially if they are informed by research. The quality of the relationship between children and those who care for them influences every aspect of young…

A hypothesized model of state implementation of federal policy was extracted from empirical studies to discover the strategies states can use to gain compliance more cost effectively. Sixteen factors were identified and applied to the implementation of the Scientific Based Research provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act. Data collected from…

Discusses the background, philosophy and provisions of the Model State Subsidized Adoption Act, which makes appropriate adoptions possible, through public subsidy, of children who might not otherwise be adopted because of special circumstances (handicaps, race, age). (ED)

This document presents descriptions of how state child abuse and neglect prevention projects are working to prevent child maltreatment through the use of Children's Trust Funds. Three common elements of Children's Trust funds are explained: (1) financing is through a distinct state fund and those funds are collected through surcharges on state…

Reports results of a survey of National Repository Projects, Completed State Projects, and State Projects currently in progress under the aegis of the National Endowment for the Humanities' U.S. Newspaper Program. Data on preservation microfilming and comments on individual projects are included. Lists of projects and funding amounts are appended.…

State child care policies--including licensing, subsidy, and quality enhancement strategies--can promote the quality and continuity of early childhood experiences and foster the healthy growth and development of babies and toddlers in child care settings, especially if they are informed by research. One of the policy levers states may use to…

For many children in America, summer vacation means camp, trips to new or familiar destinations, visits to museums, parks and libraries, and a variety of enriching activities--either with families or as part of a summer learning program. But for millions of others, when schools close for the summer, safe and enriching learning environments are out…

This document consists of an explanation of business incubator programs, descriptions of such programs in the 14 states funding them, descriptions of activity in four other states that are considering funding similar programs, and the names and addresses of existing business incubator program contracts. (CML)

At the request of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the General Accounting Office (GAO) examined the causes of interstate variations in Medicaid spending and the growth in overall spending. Using published and unpublished information, the GAO identified trends and wide variations among states in Medicaid spending and compared eligibility criteria…

Response to intervention (RTI) can be both a system for providing early interventions to struggling students and a special education diagnostic tool for evaluating and identifying students with specific learning disabilities. Contributing to the very limited literature on state-level approaches, this report describes how nine states define and…

The Oregon Statewide Report Card is an annual publication required by law (ORS 329.115), which reports on the state of public schools and their progress towards the goals of the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century. The purpose of the Oregon Report Card is to monitor trends among school districts and Oregon's progress toward achieving the…

In March 1984, the first issue of "Esprit," a semi-annual humanities magazine for the 56 two-year colleges in New York State, was published. The magazine seeks to confront the apparent decline of student interest in the humanities, community doubts about the relevance of the humanities, and the seeming indifference to the special truths…

Information on the states' progress in implementing 14 provisions of the 1984 Child Support Enforcement Amendments is provided in this report, which also summarizes the states' opinions on the effects of the amendments on five enforcement activities. Responses to questionnaires indicated that, as of March 31, 1986, only Oregon had fully…