One purpose of this paper is to describe how the concept of statewide minimum standards has been used in other states and to suggest precisely how it should be used in New Jersey. Current New Jersey law requires districts to establish pupil proficiency levels in basic skills, to identify children who fall below them, and to provide those children…

Describes North Carolina's state-supported programs linking community colleges to industrial training needs. Reviews cooperative skills training centers, state priority programs, new and expanding industry training, and state legislative support. Reviews strategies that have been successful nationally. (DMM)

Reviews federal and Alabama state legislation to protect and help individuals with handicaps. Discusses ways that colleges can adequately accommodate special needs students. Points to organizations and services which can assist colleges, e.g., the Vocational Rehabilitation Service and Job Accommodation Network. (DMM)

The details of Tennessee's Master Teacher Program are described. Teacher evaluation focuses on four areas: classroom planning, teaching strategies, class management, and student evaluation. (TE)

Despite expansions in children's health insurance programs, rates of uninsurance in California continue to be high. Noting that absenteeism due to poor health is associated with school failure and asserting that schools offer an established framework on which to build a coordinated approach to enrolling children in health insurance programs, this…

Noting that childhood lead poisoning is one of the most common preventable pediatric health problems, this report examines lead poisoning as a health problem to which infants and young children are most susceptible and as a housing problem directly related to a shortage of safe, affordable housing. The report details screening rates in Rhode…

All-day kindergarten and class size reduction are two Ohio initiatives funded through Disadvantaged Pupil Impact Aid (DPIA), a supplemental payment to school districts with substantial portions of families living in poverty. This report describes the extent to which districts implemented these programs and the challenges they faced during the…

This document is comprised of the two issues in volume 4 of "Bridges," a publication produced by the California Head Start-State Collaboration Office to detail the activities of the educational partnership and to provide relevant information to programs participating in the partnership. The spring 1999 issue focuses on the service system…

An evaluation of net impact of programs funded under the Washington State Employment and Training Act (ESHB 1988) of 1993, which provided money to community and technical colleges to expand existing courses and create new ones for Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimants most likely to lose jobs. The evaluation focused on whether the displaced UI…

Data from a variety of sources were used to examine the status of charter schools in California. Home to 415 charter schools enrolling 157,000 students, about 2.4% of all public school students in the state, California is at the forefront of the charter school movement, with the number of charter schools increasing rapidly. The average overall…

This publication provides sample components of the Ohio Career Passport, including the rationale and purpose of each. Section 1 contains examples of the letter of verification, a letter from a school or district administrator, which confirms that the individual is a student at the school. Written on school letterhead, it sends the signal to the…

This study examined the experiences of 15 elementary schools in Washington state demonstrating relatively slow improvement on the reading and mathematics sections of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. Since the passage of educational reform legislation in 1993, Washington has undertaken a systematic overhaul of its K-12 public school…

The past several years have seen basic changes in policies and programs concerning poverty, work, and workforce development. The essence of the changes is putting work first, and many states and localities are building "Work First" into welfare-to-work programs funded under Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, and many are adopting…

Applying item response theory, and the Rasch model in particular, to measure trends and examine policy coherence in state education reform shows a change in the picture of state leadership and a generalized pattern of policy making among the states. Using item response theory in policy analysis is explored. (SLD)

A study examined state legislative and policy provisions for gifted students and state efforts to address the seven initiatives outlined in U.S. Department of Education's "National Excellence: A Case for Developing America's Talent." Findings indicate some progress in teacher preparation, enhanced curricular standards, and efforts to match world…