The Wisconsin Forces for Four-Year-Olds Project promotes the community approach to offering universal access to quality care and learning services for Wisconsin 4-year-olds. Based on the view that quality early education opportunities have life-long benefits for children and the communities in which they live, this public awareness packet…

This report analyzes policy trends in gifted education in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut from 1984 through 1994. The decrease in state funding of gifted education during this period is investigated, along with the rise of private and university gifted programs. Findings from the analysis indicated that gifted students possess few of the…

Child advocacy groups have become increasingly sophisticated about using data to mobilize public opinion and motivate greater public investment in young children and their families. The lesson emerging from this work is that state and local data are needed in addition to national data to build a more powerful case for change. This policy brief…

In 1994, Michigan voters approved Proposal A, which reduced school property taxes, increased the sales tax, and established a per-pupil funding guarantee for public schools. This report describes the effects of Proposal A and challenges to it. Since Proposal A was implemented, funding for schools has grown substantially while property taxes have…

While it is widely recognized that electoral competition can have a major influence on public spending decisions, there has been little effort to consider whether the move to multiparty elections in African countries in recent years has led to a redistribution of public expenditures among social groups. This is a question relevant for debates…

Lack of public confidence has created a crisis in American education. To regain public support for the schools, educators can (1) mobilize educational agencies into an action force to support public education; (2) focus school goals on teaching content; (3) improve teacher quality; and (4) increase the supply of science and mathematics teachers.…

Maintains that since the 18th century an intellectual schism has developed between the U.S. public and specialized academic and artistic communities. Argues that art educators can work to correct this by serving as translators for those who lack fluency in the critical language of the arts. (MJP)

Addresses two sets of questions with regard to school choice. The first set focuses on the meaning of school choice, the proposed benefits of choice plans, whether such plans have been tried, and what the research concludes about school-choice arrangements. The second set presents the rationale for open enrollment and controlled choice and offers…

Reports on health care and social service providers in Seattle (Washington) whose clients are mainly inner-city teens. It discusses the costs and benefits of collaboration among these organizations for adolescent service delivery and the conditions that support and threaten collaborative relationships. Special reference is made to changing…

Analyses relationship between gender and confidence in science. Argues that, as women form larger part of labor force and tax base, scientific fields must seek to increase women's generally lower levels of confidence in science. Reports no change in trend of confidence in science between 1973 and 1989, but shows significant and widening gap…

A study compared the costs and funding of higher education in 15 European countries, focusing on the quantitative role public funding plays in covering the overall costs of higher education and the qualitative function of public support in shaping the student's role as dependent, investor, or citizen. Wide divergence in national approaches to the…

A dramatic increase in numbers of homeless families with school-age children and independent homeless youth has occurred in recent years. This article, an introduction to issues involved in educating homeless students, offers strategies for building awareness, increasing and supporting parental involvement, providing early intervention, and…

The Clark County Nevada Board of Trustees voted unanimously in April, 2001 to approve a 5-year, more than $35 million contract with Edison Schools to run seven of the district's lowest-achieving schools. Describes the decision process and reports what the board and the superintendent learned. One of their biggest lessons was the importance of…

The high prevalence of kith and kin child care for infants and toddlers, coupled with research evidence suggesting cause for concern about quality in these settings, points to a critical need for policies and programs to support kith and kin caregivers in providing quality care. A number of state and local agencies are exploring strategies for…

The Donors' Education Collaborative of New York (DEC) began with a scene more typical of politics than philanthropy: five foundation presidents in a room, trying to figure out what to do for a city that had fallen on hard times in the early 1990s. They investigated specific topics--such as the public hospital system and school governance…