The purpose of this report is to provide readers with a comparative analysis of the Massachusetts workforce "system" structures and performance reporting processes compared to other states. Though the federal workforce development system is often examined in its entirety and individual state systems are at times examined independently,…

School improvement is complex and difficult, especially in comprehensive support and improvement (CSI) schools, which concurrently struggle with multiple challenges. To guide state education agencies (SEAs) in supporting schools, this report summarizes the resources that SEAs have identified and developed, insights from national technical…

Early childhood education programs play an important role in child family-to-school transition. In 1998, California voters passed Proposition 10, the California Children and Families Act, which levied a 50-cent tax on each pack of cigarettes and other tobacco products to finance programs for children ages 0-5. In less than two decades, First 5…

Title VII provides funding for the education of American Indian/Alaska Native students based on a formula grant available to school districts, charter schools, and local education agencies (LEAs). This report explores why some eligible schools and districts do not apply for federal Title VII, potentially resulting in American Indian/Alaska Native…

In the absence of continuous legislative and institutional intervention, the demand for services provided by vocational and registered nurses in California over the next ten years will greatly outpace the supply of nurses anticipated to flow from postsecondary degree programs. Nursing education and supply issues can be better understood and…

This report examines the adequacy of the standard of need used by the State of Nevada to determine eligibility for the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program (ADC). Nevada's standard of $285 per month for a family of 3 ranked 49 out of 54 states and political entities. The current standard is reviewed in relation to the present cost of…

The Employment Training Panel (ETP) contracted with California State University-Northridge to review the fixed fee structure ETP used to pay contractors for training provided under ETP. Three research questions were investigated: what other institutions use the fixed fee and what they pay for; whether ETP's fixed-fee rates were reasonable in…

For the benefit of Texas Association of Private Industry Council (TAPIC) volunteers who oversee dislocated worker projects, a report examined the initial efforts of putting together a cost-effective and responsive system that can reemploy people. In addition to a review of the state's role in the management and administration of the Economic…

During an 18-month demonstration period, the Illinois Occupational Program Initiative (IOPI), funded through the state's Division of Alcoholism, demonstrated the feasibility of funding individual contractors to create and market employee assistance programs (EAPs) to representatives of industry and labor. Cost estimates for the EAPs were to cover…

The equitability of current New Jersey State programs supporting higher education is the primary focus of this study. Taxpayer equity is defined as the distribution of higher education costs on the basis of ability to pay and commensurate with the distribution of higher education subsidies. The net effect of all state programs on each income group…

This report is the result of a 1995 national mail survey of state special education administrators concerning mechanisms used by states to fund special education services for school-age children with disabilities and the costs to provide these services. All 50 states and the District of Columbia responded to the survey. Part 1 contains three…

This report details a method by which the cost of school building construction in Massachusetts could be substantially reduced. A special study committee concluded that a systems approach to school building would cut costs and produce buildings of better quality and greater flexibility. It recommended the creation of a Statewide corporation to…

This report investigated the financial expenditures of states for services for individuals with developmental disabilities and examined the factors that influenced the level of expenditure. Eight multiple-regression models are presented which explain 70 to 88 percent of the variation in states' total expenditures. In addition to the obvious…

Support for primary-age, at-risk children is examined in the context of renewed national interest in intervention programs for this population. This report describes alternative approaches to identifying characteristics of at-risk students and then presents a summary of states' definitions of "handicapped" or "disadvantaged."…

This report responds to a legislative mandate to examine the funding of the Statewide Nursing Program at the California State University, an external degree program of advanced training for practicing nurses. Included in the report are: (1) a brief history of the program; (2) the State University's rationale for offering it; (3) a description of…