Smart Start is North Carolina's partnership between state government and local leaders, service providers, and families to better serve children under 6 years of age and their families. A formative evaluation of the Smart Start process, to inform the current state-level decision-making processes for future Smart Start efforts, was devised from a…

This study explores an alternative approach to educational program and policy evaluation by using two major educational measurement/analysis methods, and illustrates their integrated applications to evaluating state reform policies. Most evaluations have been done one program at a time, but it is desirable to design evaluation research in a way…

This report summarizes the essential elements of state-funded prekindergarten programs across the United States. To be included in the report, a program had to be supported primarily by state funds, have early education as a goal, focus on children younger than kindergarten entry age, and provide direct service to children rather than concentrate…

This social studies guide is designed to serve as a companion document to the New York Framework and State Standards. The guide provides teachers with a wealth of information, strategies, learning experiences, sample assessments, research, and specific discipline materials to be used in the social studies curriculum development process within each…

The Florida Library History Project (FLHP) began in January 1998. Letters requesting histories were sent to all public libraries in Florida with follow-up letters sent after an initial response was received from the libraries. E-mail messages were sent out to FL-LIB listservs encouraging participation in the project. A poster session was presented…

This newsletter features innovations in resource management and information technology to support New York State government. The newsletter contains the following six sections: (1) "Electronic Commerce: Government Services in the New Millennium" -- examining the need for government involvement in electronic commerce policy and…

Formal program evaluation activities in special education have focused primarily on process indicators such as compliance while neglecting product indicators such as student outcomes. While efforts are underway to provide technical assistance to state and local educational agencies to expand the focus of evaluation activities, there is a need to…

This report presents the conclusion of about 50 leaders in government, business, and education who met to consider the status and future of higher education in New Mexico. Following an executive summary, individual sections of the report address the following categories: the process of the roundtable; the current status of higher education in New…

This volume contains comprehensive four-page scorecards for the United States as a whole, each state, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories reporting progress toward the National Education Goals. The U.S. scorecard charts progress on 26 national indicators of educational progress, and the state scorecards chart progress on 33 similar…

In 1998 the Colorado State General Assembly passed a bill that revised the schedule for implementation of the Colorado Student Assessment Program of state assessments. During the 1998-99 school year, the state assessment was to include third-grade literacy, fourth-grade reading and writing, and seventh-grade reading and writing. The newsletters in…

Virginia Governor's Schools provide gifted students with educational experiences that are otherwise unavailable in their local school divisions. Governor's Schools (previously called Magnet Schools) include 5 academic year schools, 5 summer residential schools, and 20 summer regional schools. This report, produced in response to a request from the…

This evaluation of Massachusett's Employment and Training Choices (ET) program indicates that instead of saving taxpayers money, the program has been costly and has contributed little or nothing to reduce the state's welfare caseload. ET offers welfare recipients a wide variety of employment services, including career planning and job search,…

A paper, "Young Children Face the States: Issues and Options for Early Childhood Programs," by W. Norton Grubb, is summarized in this policy brief. A discussion of the decisions that state policy makers must make and descriptions of the historical conflicts that persist within the early childhood movement and the current national status of early…

In Virginia, distance learning means the "Electronic Classroom," which is a distance education program of two-way audio and one-way video broadcast transmission of instruction from Varina High School (since September 1984) and Wise Vocational-Technical School (since September 1987). Each distance learning receive classroom is equipped…

This handbook has been compiled for coordinators of cooperative education programs at the secondary level in Maine. The handbook includes in-school classroom instruction relating to specific jobs and the world of work. Introductory material includes the Maine Association for Cooperative Education Constitution, By-Laws, and 1991 officers. The…