The experiences of stakeholders in Wisconsin's youth apprenticeship programs are used to provide insights for other policy-makers and educators contemplating or currently implementing youth apprenticeship programs. In-depth interviews, focus group interviews, and surveys with more than 100 students, parents, employers, and instructors were used to…

This publication provides a reference for educators and others interested in conducting comparative studies relative to North Carolina tests. It includes norms, tables, and other statistical information for all state-developed tests (state-mandated and local-option tests for which baseline data are available) that were administered during the…

Research was conducted to provide Arkansas Advisory Council for Vocational-Technical Education (ACVTE) officials with support data and analysis for the development of funding strategies for recommendation to the Governor and General Assembly. It used internal vocational and technical education enrollment and expenditure data, external survey…

The National Center for Children in Poverty(NCCP)has developed a series of issue briefs on the effects of welfare reform on children living in poverty. This issue brief is based in part on "Map and Track: State Initiatives to Promote Responsible Fatherhood," a report supported by The Annie E. Casey Foundation and prepared by NCCP in…

INCOLSA, Indiana's statewide library and information network was established in 1995 as the result of a voluntary merger of the state's 10 autonomous, mulitype library services agencies. An evaluation was conducted centered on services appearing under three major goals listed in the 1994 plan: (1) statewide information access and delivery; (2)…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has conducted state assessments in 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1996. At present, after the fourth round of state assessments, it is clear that the program is generally successful. A survey of state testing directors indicates that the NAEP has considerable credibility as a valid and reliable source…

This 1998-2000 State Plan for the Texas Planning Council for Developmental Disabilities presents the Council's future goals and objectives to enable people with developmental disabilities to be fully included in their communities and exercise control over their own lives. Section 1 provides information on the Developmental Disabilities and Bill of…

This paper provides a national perspective on special education finance and related reform issues and proposals, with emphasis on those of particular relevance for the state of New York. It also looks specifically at the current New York funding system as it pertains to students with disabilities and concludes with several observations. First, the…

The Cherry Creek School district (Englewood, Colorado) is a growing district of 37,000 students in the Denver area. The 1988 Colorado State School Finance Act required district-set proficiencies (standards), and forced agreement on a set of values for student knowledge and skills. State-adopted standards added additional requirements for the…

Clear communication with parents about educational reform issues and the implementation of standards is essential. This publication presents ideas for state leaders on how better to inform parents about statewide assessments and how to report the results of these assessments to parents so that the results are more meaningful. The first section…

Recent emphasis on raising standards has attracted Americans' attention to factors that improve student learning. An examination of the relationship between teacher knowledge and student performance is offered in this report. The text summarizes what research suggests about various kinds of teacher education, the professional development teachers…

This final report describes activities and achievements of a project that examined issues in development of coordinated services systems as encouraged by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) amendments of 1997. It identifies and discusses 27 coordinated services policy and implementation considerations within nine areas. Examples…

Louisiana's School-Based Health Center (SBHC) Program, the Adolescent School Health Initiative, has reached its fifth year of full program implementation. This report aims to educate community leaders, service providers, and the general public on the variety of roles SBHCs perform and the contribution they make to the health and well-being of the…

As part of a major effort to raise student achievement, Colorado schools have been putting into place rigorous academic content standards that spell out the skills and knowledge students should acquire in core subject areas. This guide contains information about part of this effort, the new Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP), to help…

The new Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) was developed to provide a measurement of how well students and schools are meeting Colorado's academic content standards. The CSAP tests are not norm-referenced showing how much a student has learned in comparison with other students. Instead, they are based on the state's content standards.…