The purpose of this quantitative comparative quasi-experimental study was to compare the perceptions of work-life balance and turnover intentions of four-day and five-day rural Oklahoma classroom teachers. Four-day school districts have become increasingly popular across the United States as a way to reduce operational expenses, with 92 four-day…

Data from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights showing that Indiana ranked first in the nation in expulsion and ninth in the nation in expulsions in the most recent available statistics cannot help but raise questions concerning why this is so. At a preliminary presentation of that data before the Indiana State Legislature in…

The passage of the Children First Act in 1988 ushered in a new era of data collection, analysis, and reporting about the overall quality and condition of education in Louisiana. Implemented in 1990, this major piece of legislation resulted in the publication of the Progress Profiles (School Report Cards, District Composite Report, and the…

The goal of the "Closing the Achievement Gap for 21st Century Learners in West Virginia (CAG)" report, 3rd edition, is to update West Virginia educators to the status and improvement of student achievement in West Virginia which may then be utilized as a basis for determining future educational decisions. In order to enhance the quality…

Summaries are presented of recent study reports on the current status of education in the United States: (1) "A Nation at Risk" (National Commission on Excellence in Education); (2) "Action for Excellence" (Education Commission of the States); (3) "Educating Americans for the 21st Century" (Commission on Precollege…

This report addresses how, and to what extent, institutional accreditation might be utilized in lieu of part or all of the State licensing review. During 1989, the State enacted legislation that considerably raised the licensing standards for private postsecondary institutions. These new State standards were used as a basis for examining the…

Child care licensing is a consumer protection responsibility of each state. Each licensing standard establishes a right that children and parents in private early care and education programs have in that state. Because each state sets its licensing standards at a level its citizens agree to support, child care differs dramatically among states.…

The purpose of this report, one of several prepared for a comprehensive study of early childhood education in Illinois, was to collect, compile, and analyze specific data concerning early childhood education policy and practices from all fifty states. Each state was queried regarding the following: (1) compulsory attendance age, (2) mandated…

Responses from 230 New York State school districts were analyzed to determine the impact of the new State handicapped regulations with regard to financial impact, meeting the 30-day time period between initial referral of a handicapped child and board action, variances, and programming and placement according to 4 criteria. In general, small,…

Three basic issues of day care licensing are dealt with in this paper. These are: (1) Should day care licensing be statutority separate from other child care licensing programs? (2) Where should day care licensing be administratively located? and (3) How much of the safeguarding and upgrading of service can licensing carry in relation to possibly…

This document is the second annual report to North Carolina educators, policy makers, and the public on the performance of each of the state's local public school systems primarily in terms of outcomes of education based on student achievement. Information in the Report Card makes it possible to compare: (1) current levels of performance with…

Florida state legislation has mandated the evaluation of its compensatory education programs. The Florida Accountability Act of 1976 called for minimum basic skills testing in grades 3, 5, 8, and 11 (subsequently amended to grade 10). In 1977, the Florida Compensatory Education Act mandated remedial programs for students performing below the…

Michigan is no stranger to the effects of competition. The auto industry was forced to adjust to an onslaught of foreign competition in the 70s and 80s. Now, Michigan's public schools face their own competition in the form of public charter schools. Since 1993, when Michigan became one of the first states in the nation to enact charter…

In 1998, Virginia's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) was directed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicle's (DMV's) oversight of commercial driver training schools (CDTS) in Virginia. The evaluation included the following research activities: mail surveys of DMV CDTS oversight staff and CDTS…

This report provides the first complete inventory ever done in Ohio of children who need day care and where they live, the first complete summary of existing day care services, and the first comparison of day care policies in Ohio with those in every other state. Previously unpublished census data were used to identify the number of children in…