A national consensus has been developing in recent years on the crisis of values faced by the United States. A measure that has recently reemerged and captured a measure of public attention is character education. This paper examines the degree to which state governments and their educational establishments have attempted to use character…

Twenty of 26 active members of the Governor's School to Work (STW) Advisory Council shared their views of and expectations for Arizona's STW initiative. The STW transition occurred in one of three ways: instructors in vocational programs had linkages with employers; a program, school, or district had a placement person to facilitate students' STW…

A review of existing accountability processes and reports of the Florida State University System, the State Community College System, and public and independent postsecondary institutions was conducted in compliance with a 1994 Florida legislative mandate. The review centered on priority areas identified in the 1993 Master Plan for Florida…

This report examines the $4.5 million per biennium endowment that supports senior faculty members identified as "eminent scholars" in Ohio's post-secondary education system. Since its inception in 1983, the Eminent Scholars Program has awarded 36 chairs to six public universities with 21 chairs filled as of January 1991. All 21 Eminent…

This document provides a summary of school-reform actions taken by each of the 50 states and Puerto Rico as of February 12, 1996. Reform refers to four broad categories--school choice, services that are contracted out to private entities, deregulation or decentralization (for example, charter schools), and accountability through strong academic…

A project was conducted to help single parents residing in public housing who were participants in an adult basic education (ABE) life skills program learn how to request services from school districts and social service providers. An advocacy curriculum outline and an extensive bibliography, as well as procedures and materials for training peer…

This guide and coordinator's manual are designed to assist administrators of local agencies, area vocational centers, and postsecondary institutions in Michigan in assessing and improving their compliance with civil rights regulations relating to vocational education. The guide is based on an interpretation of the following laws: Title VI of the…

Since the passage of legislation requiring Illinois colleges to develop plans for increasing the participation and advancement of underrepresented groups, the state's community colleges have used both special population grant funds and local college funds to address the needs of these groups. This report summarizes statewide initiatives and…

The 1996 hearing of the Minnesota State Council on Vocational Technical Education included testimony from 13 individuals representing state agencies, local education agencies, professional and public policy organizations, and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities. Testimony indicated that secondary and postsecondary vocational and technical…

This report explores the efforts of the Colorado Department of Education in its Chapter 1 programs in 1994. Chapter 1 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is the largest federally funded program designed to provide services to elementary and secondary school students. Chapter 1 provides financial assistance to meet the special educational…

The Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) report challenged schools, parents, and businesses to help all students develop competencies in the basic skills, thinking skills, and personal qualities required for work in the current and future workplace. In response to this challenge, vocational-technical programs were…

Since 1988, Vermont has been developing an innovative performance assessment program that relies substantially on portfolios of student work. This interim report presents findings about the reliability of scores from the first statewide implementation of the portfolio program in the 1991-92 school year. The focus is not on program impact as an…

In March 1991, New Jersey's school finance reform law, The Quality Education Act, targeted 287 million dollars to 30 school districts with high proportions of at-risk students. This paper presents findings of a study that examined how 11 districts in New Jersey utilized state resources to meet the needs of their at-risk students. Five were…

This booklet presents the Texas State Library Systems Act and some supporting documents to help in the operation of a library under the Texas system. The State Library Systems Act establishes and defines the state library system, allowing for its operation and management and defining the member libraries. Information on state grants is provided,…

In January 1993, Florida's Correctional Education School Authority (CESA) studied the vocational interests of 125 randomly selected female inmates at the 3 female state correctional facilities in Florida. After two additional informal studies, an interim oversight review was conducted to determine the following: whether CESA was in compliance with…