This resource was prepared in response to a request for examples of developmental screening activities in Early Learning Challenge (ELC) States. This information will be helpful to States as they consider how to identify and address health, behavioral, and developmental needs of children with high needs. To address this request, ELC TA reviewed…

The outcomes states gain from investing in postsecondary financial aid programs remain hotly debated, leading to great interest in developing programs that are both cost-effective and productive in helping states meet goals. In the 2012-13 academic year, states collectively provided approximately $11.2 billion in financial aid to students enrolled…

This paper examines the responses of four high schools to new accountability policies in two states, New York and Vermont. In each state, one school that was better positioned with respect to the policy and one that was a target of the policy were studied. New York's policy attaches high stakes for students though the Regents high school exit…

This report examines state earned income tax credits (EICs) as a means to assist working poor families to escape poverty. Specifically, the report notes that six states have their own EICs, expressed as a percentage of the federal EIC, with the advantages being that the credit is a reward for work, is a pro-family policy, is efficiently targeted,…

This paper examines the politics of special education finance reform in three states (Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Vermont) that have enacted substantial legislative change within the past 5 years. These case studies were extracted from presentations made by the three state directors of special education at a 1994 conference. Each case study includes…

This paper traces the historical context of the passage and implementation of Vermont's Act 230 in 1990, which initiated a new special education funding system to increase equity, predictability, and flexibility in program design as well as to ensure placement neutrality. Specific objectives of the funding system included increasing the use of…

This paper addresses legal, cost, and policy aspects of meeting the educational needs of children with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in Vermont. The first sections address the increasing incidence of TBI and implications of technological advancement. The next section stresses the importance of states establishing and maintaining statewide…

This report offers an assessment of the status of child development programs in Vermont based on information gathered by the Interagency Council on Child Development which was created by the Vermont legislature in 1974. Program descriptions for each state department, division and agency represented on the Council, and several not represented, are…

This report provides information about special education costs in Vermont and the effects of recent policy changes implemented through Vermont's Act 230 and special education reform efforts. The report begins by describing Vermont's funding formula for special education and explains how the formula is flexible, more equitable, and better able to…