States are in the leadership position to effect pervasive and comprehensive changes needed in the educational system. There exist five key dimensions for analyzing initiatives resulting in systemic changes: (1) infusiveness, building upon existing knowledge; (2) pervasiveness, effecting improvements in all key components of the system, including…

In 1986 the Kentucky General Assembly passed legislation directing the Legislative Research Commission to appoint a special subcommittee, the Special Subcommittee on Essential Skills Testing, to study the Kentucky Essential Skills Testing Program (KEST) and to make recommendations concerning the program. This report presents the findings and…

The National Center for Children in Poverty(NCCP)has developed a series of issue briefs on the effects of welfare reform on children living in poverty. This issue brief is based in part on "Map and Track: State Initiatives to Promote Responsible Fatherhood," a report supported by The Annie E. Casey Foundation and prepared by NCCP in…

The Cherry Creek School district (Englewood, Colorado) is a growing district of 37,000 students in the Denver area. The 1988 Colorado State School Finance Act required district-set proficiencies (standards), and forced agreement on a set of values for student knowledge and skills. State-adopted standards added additional requirements for the…

This document describes state and local elementary and secondary education standards developed for academic achievement and assessment of student progress in Missouri. In response to the Outstanding Schools Act of 1993, the Show-Me Standards were established to represent knowledge students should acquire and how they should be able to communicate…

This practical manual provides useful, concrete ideas and suggestions to help public libraries make libraries more accessible to persons with disabilities. Most suggestions are for persons who have difficulty with mobility. Reviews of pertinent laws and regulations are followed by concrete, step-by step suggestions for planning for accessibility,…

Connecticut has adopted a moderate approach to communications infrastructure modernization, covering a 4-year implementation period from 1993 to 1996. The state's remote educational framework, with regulatory enhancements, will allow the state to be technologically competitive with neighboring states as it allows subscribers to use evolving…

This resource guide on services available for students with disabilities at Florida's public universities begins with a summary of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a list of recognized disability categories, regulations concerning the provision of auxiliary learning aids, and Florida statutes concerning postsecondary education of…

This report describes the status of State and federal financial assistance available to students enrolled in postsecondary institutions located in New York State during the two academic years, 1987-88 and 1988-89. The introduction contains a brief overview of State and federal student assistance programs and highlights recent developments in those…

This report describes recent gains in support for the movement to allow parents to choose the public school which their children attend. Reasons for the movement's growth and methods of implementing school choice plans are presented. The paper then focuses specifically on interdistrict school choice plans, identifying major aspects which are…

Effects of the first year of New York State's salary enhancement program for classroom and supervisory staff in licensed, not-for-profit child care centers, including Head Start, were evaluated. The evaluation was designed to help New York policymakers assess the effectiveness of this approach to improving child care staff recruitment and…

This legislators' guide outlines state maternal health programs and strategies and offers states options for improving their maternal and child health services. The introductory chapter 1 is followed by an overview of maternal and child health status in the United States in chapter 2. Costs associated with the failure to provide adequate prenatal…

The "Documents on Documents Collection" consists of documents produced by a variety of organizations in the course of administering state document depository programs. This collection, which contains 166 documents gathered between 1980 and 1983, originated as a resource for administrators of such depository programs and for those…

A study examined whether the Minnesota State Board of Vocational Education has adequately implemented recommendations made in a 1983 evaluation of postsecondary vocational education programs. It focused particularly on how the board and its management have responded to problems of low job placement rates and low student-teacher ratios in some…

Section 20-2-250 of Georgia's Quality Basic Education (QBE) Act, passed in March, 1985, provides for three types of innovative activities: developmental projects, training center/dissemination projects, and adoption projects. This part of the Act is administered by the Georgia Department of Education under the Innovation Program. The activities…