Based on a survey of teacher competency testing practices in all the states, the authors provide an analysis of what areas are covered in teacher tests, which tests are used, and how the tests are used in both current and planned state teacher testing programs. (Author/BS)

A survey of early childhood intervention policies in 50 states and the District of Columbia focused on handicapping conditions served, overseeing agencies, interagency contracts, state regulations, training/certification, etc. Results showed a national shortage of trained early childhood personnel, less than optimal funding, lead agency…

Examines Florida's articulation system in terms of governance and state coordination of K-12, community college and four-year college sectors; the Florida Administrative Code's rule on articulation and its effects on transfer, community colleges and high schools; and the future of articulation in the state. (DMM)

The article describes the development and implementation of a statewide (Vermont) interdisciplinary model for providing special education to learners with severe disabilities, as well as the role of a university-based center in facilitating systems change in early special education, recreation/leisure opportunities, vocational services, and family…

Reviews the creation in 1933 of the Council of State Governments, which serves as an information resource for state officials and describes the current development of a national-state government information database and the creation of a state government research institute. (CLB)

Testing teachers for recertification to ensure that all certified teachers and administrators can read and write adequately is supported. Insofar as possible, tests must be developed and used in ways that are not demeaning to educational professionals. Recertification testing may recapture public support for education, which has seriously eroded.…

In late 2005 the Select Panel on Revisioning Education in Maine issued their draft report describing a series of recommendations for the improvement of student learning in Maine. The Panel, convened by the Maine State Board of Education, and pursuant to Tile 20-A statutory requirements, developed their recommendations through six months of data…

Central to California's school accountability system are programs to engage low-performing schools in improvement efforts. One of these is the High Priority Schools Program (HPSGP), created by Assembly Bill 961 (Chapter 747, "Statutes of 2001") to provide funds to the lowest performing schools in the state. To be eligible for funding,…

The Unsafe School Choice Option (USCO) (section 9532 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001) requires that each State receiving funds under the ESEA establish and implement a statewide policy requiring that students attending a persistently dangerous public elementary or…

This book is the fourth of four volumes in a directory of more than 1,000 discretionary grants and contracts supported by the Research to Practice Division of the Office of Special Education Programs. This volume focuses on projects concerned with technical assistance, dissemination, parent information, and state improvement. The Technical…

This report is designed to provide consistent reliable indicators to allow analysis of educational trends in each state over time and to provide high quality data to provide comparable information from state to state. The accessible indicator formats are designed for increased uses by a variety of audiences. The report contains two-page profiles…

This volume describes federal student financial aid programs that are administered at the state level. Students must meet state eligibility requirements to receive assistance or benefits from these programs. The State grant programs are: (1) the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership (LEAP) Program; (2) the Special Leveraging Educational…

Because of an increasingly challenging fiscal climate, state lawmakers are faced with making tough financial decisions regarding their early childhood systems. This document describes and examines various funding sources used when making decisions about possible early childhood initiatives combined with policy choices that may be considered in…

Building on a pledge to support the state's job growth and successful transitions from welfare to work, the governor of Maryland issued an executive order in 1998 to establish the Maryland Child Care Business Partnership (MCCBP). This partnership, comprised of 23 members representing business, labor, state and local government, and the child care…

The topic of high-stakes testing (HST) is important because HST has direct and indirect effects on career-technical education (CTE) programs and timely because HST increasingly enters public discussion and has produced a large body of research and practice that generalizes to CTE. A review of HST has identified two persisting dilemmas: policy and…