Senate Bill (SB) 163 would alter the current law that requires coverage of behavioral health treatment (BHT) for autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). SB 163 would expand the definition of BHT to include treatment modalities based on developmental theory, would make technical changes to definitions related to network adequacy, would prohibit denial of…

Second Substitute Senate Bill 5903 (2019) directed the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) to contract with an organization providing coaching services to early achievers program participants, i.e., Child Care Aware of Washington (CCA WA), to provide statewide Infant-Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMH-C) to Early…

The 2013 Washington State Legislature enacted legislation (Revised Code of Washington [RCW] 28A.165.100) requiring additional data reporting for the Learning Assistance Program (LAP). Under the guidelines provided in the law, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) produces an annual report to the Legislature summarizing the…

Bullying in elementary schools is a recognized and widespread occurrence that threatens to rob children of their childhood. Part I of this commentary describes existing scientifically-based research on the nature, extent and effects of the phenomenon on children in United States schools. Part II analyzes the effectiveness of bullying prevention…

In 2002, voters in Florida approved a constitutional amendment limiting class sizes in public schools to 18 students in the elementary grades, 22 students in middle grades, and 25 in high school grades. Analyzing statewide achievement data for school districts from 2004-2006 and for schools in 2007, this study purports to find that "mandated…

Merit pay is now in the midst of a renaissance. Hundreds of school districts are experimenting with some type of performance-based pay system. At least six states have statewide or pilot programs, and the federal government has spent close to $100 million on the Teacher Incentive Fund. Whether such programs will last, encourage the start of…

In the summer of 2011, the Tennessee Department of Education contracted with the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching (NIET) to provide a four-day training for all evaluators across the state. NIET trained more than 5,000 evaluators intensively in the state model (districts using alternative instruments delivered their own training).…

Over 166,000 students attend charter schools. President Clinton has called for the creation of 3,000 charter schools by 2000. This article examines effects of "weak" versus "strong" charter-school laws, discusses charters' pros and cons, explains funding challenges, and reviews preliminary findings on charter schools'…

Although individual components of reform initiatives may appear promising, little thought is given to possible inconsistencies resulting from implementing multiple reform components simultaneously. This article describes some unintended consequences arising from inconsistencies between and within components of Kentucky's systemic education reform.…

This book is the seventh Children's Defense Fund report on major problems facing American children at risk of placement or already placed out of their homes. The findings are based on a survey of child welfare and probation offices in a stratified random sample of 140 counties (27 with populations over 300,000, and 113 with populations under…

This case study documents reform policies and practices for handling juveniles, and the development of complete monitoring of child welfare and juvenile facilities. Due to the work of citizen and child advocacy groups, ways have been developed in Pennsylvania to determine whether state and federal laws regarding institutionalized children are…

The Child Support Enforcement Amendments of 1984 require that every state not qualifying for a waiver appoint a commission to look at the success of the state's child support enforcement program in securing support and parental involvement for all children needing such services, whether they were eligible for public assistance or not. This…

Discussed are the procedures implemented in the Orleans Parish Schools in response to the Louisiana state-mandated promotional testing program (Act 750, 1979), and concerns regarding its value. Recent findings raise fundamental questions about whether an exclusively skills-focused curriculum in the early years provides the needed grounding in…

The Wisconsin "Learnfare" policy requires that teenagers receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) attend school regularly until they have completed high school. The population of teen parents and dependent teens receiving AFDC from September 1988 through December 1989 included 22,241 males and 30,995 females. About half…

Over the past 15 years, charter schools and teachers unions have battled in state legislatures, the courts and the media. But with increasing frequency, the two groups are facing each other in the everyday operation of schools. This report summarizes the opinions expressed at a meeting of local state, and national leaders from both the charter…