New Mexico's 19 "very small" school districts (fewer than 300 average daily membership K-12 in 1981-82) were studied to identify major problems (including program deficiencies and actions being taken to alleviate those problems), to determine appropriate additional measures which might be helpful in resolving the problems, and to…

The guide is designed to assist the small school administrator in the successful recruitment of teachers. It provides a recruitment design, which encompasses community and school assets, and a list of "ideal characteristics" of teachers who are congruent with the needs of small schools. Fifteen strategies for effective recruitment include…

An informal national survey of new efforts in foreign language education undertaken by the Joint National Committee for Languages revealed that 12 states had made significant progress, another 13 states showed positive movement, and 12 had concluded studies, reports, and/or recommendations that may yield some results. Six had studies in progress,…

This pamphlet discusses issues related to the question of whether and how the federal government should finance prekindergarten public child care. Specifically, several policy statements are explored: (1) Financial apparatus should include input from federal, state, and local levels; (2) There should be local autonomy in management/implementation…

Despite the many criticisms that have been made of vocational education teacher preparation, the field has many strengths that can serve as a base on which to build excellent programs. Six examples of excellence are pointed out: (1) important vocational teacher competencies have been identified and verified; (2) high quality performance-based…

The National Teacher Examinations (NTE) Core Battery and Specialty Area tests were assessed to determine (1) test validity and (2) minimum performance standards for use in the state of Tennessee. The NTE was reviewed by 316 teacher education personnel, who focused on its relevance to teacher education programs. A group of 288 local school district…

The pattern toward an increase in the number of states using some form of competency testing prior to the certification of educators is substantiated in this paper. Competency testing programs are implemented at three distinct levels: (1) before entrance into a teacher education program near the end of the sophomore year in college; (2) at the end…

Eleven recent reports related to excellence in education were examined, and their implications for vocational education were interpreted. Commonalities and differences among the studies were identified, and a selection of these was developed further with major emphases on teaching and learning. Topics were selected according to their immediacy and…

The characteristics of 18.2 million persons who participated in postsecondary education activities are described, based on the results of the Bureau of the Census' October 1982 Current Population Survey. Included are: participation rates of population groups and an unduplicated count of postsecondary students; a breakdown of students by type of…

A State Issues Clearinghouse was established by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Combined Task Force on Governmental Relations to monitor and track state activities that impact upon teacher education. This report presents the results of the first survey of the fifty states undertaken by the Clearinghouse. The nine policy…

The evaluation of the Dade County Public Schools, Florida 1983-84 Beginning Teacher Program was designed to achieve these specific goals: (1) assess the extent to which program operations and procedures facilitated the implementation of major project components; and (2) determine the program's effectiveness in achieving its major outcome of…

This booklet provides a framework for meeting the Illinois constitutional requirement that the schools of the state provide an efficient system of high quality education. Recognition is the process by which the state superintendent of education certifies that a local school district has met efficient and adequate basic standards for the quality of…

Selected current data on both small and large public schools in an 11-county area of southeast Minnesota are summarized to help school districts in decision making since proposed legislation would reduce the state's 438 school districts to 92. The survey instrument, included in the report, was sent to all public school superintendents in the…

For the past four years the Georgia Department of Education has been involved in a statewide effort to establish standards and procedures for certification of educational personnel based on competency demonstration. As part of this effort, a project was commissioned to develop a performance-based system for the certification of school counselors.…

A review of the history of associate degree nursing (ADN) education is presented, along with a discussion of contemporary problems faced by ADN educators. The paper first notes the practical, hospital-based nature of early nursing education programs; reviews early studies calling for school-based programs to prepare nurses for different levels of…