The State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in 1997 signaled a major increase in time, energy, creativity, and money devoted to enrolling eligible children in health insurance programs. Child advocates and others have focused on developing outreach and enrollment strategies to bring the benefits of these new SCHIP programs to children…

This report describes the 1999 legislation affecting Oregon's K-12 school finance system. The first section summarizes state appropriations and local revenue estimates for 1999-01. The second section describes modifications to the allocation of the State School Fund among school districts and Education Service Districts. The last section reports…

This paper reviews recent developments in the growth of testing as a requirement for high school graduation for K-12 public school systems throughout the United States. It then examines performance patterns on such tests by focusing on results for students indifferent racial and ethnic groups in several states. The multiple meanings of the…

To learn more about families and children who have been served by the Texas Child Care Management Services (CCMS) system, this study investigated four primary questions: (1) What are the demographic characteristics of Texas families and children who have received subsidized child care services? (2) What are the subsidized child care utilization…

Although California lags behind other states in insuring children of low-income working families, the state could provide assistance by building on existing public health programs. This report provides a primer on the problems of low-income uninsured children and explores the public policy building blocks needed to adequately and affordably insure…

The Family Support Act of 1988 and the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 provided the basis for a comprehensive reform of welfare programs. This document provides examples of how five states have chosen to implement new provisions in their welfare programs to aid families in achieving greater economic…

How implementation of the middle schools concept affects student attainment of the purposes of middle grades education was studied in Georgia. Focuses were on academic achievement, the cost effectiveness of the Middle School Program, and any modifications needed to improve middle grades education. This study finds that students who attend schools…

This report, ninth in a series, is designed to indicate progress made by the United States toward the eight National Education Goals. Following a statement of the eight Goals, part 1 explains the nature and purposes of the Goals. Part 2, "Summary of Progress to Date," evaluates national and state progress made toward these goals since…

A statewide effort was conducted in Kentucky to design a longitudinal assessment of tech prep, an educational reform strategy for high schools. Construction of the evaluation design included consideration of quantitative and qualitative data for school programmatic decisions, as well as funding accountability requirements at the district and state…

This collection of approximately 200 documents gathered during 1984-95 consists of materials used in the administration of state documents depository programs, including: (1) bibliographies; (2) commentaries and letters; (3) depository contracts; (4) forms and form letters; (5) labels; (6) legislation and legal materials; (7) mailing lists; (8)…

In California, ABE 321/326 provides funding for supplemental local assistance grants for Adult Basic Education (ABE), English as a Second Language (ESL), and ESL/Citizenship. This report presents findings and recommendations from the 1997-98 Adult Basic Education (ABE) 321/326 survey questionnaire developed by the Comprehensive Adult Student…

This report discusses the outcomes of a survey that investigated data collection efforts of state special education dispute resolution contacts in all 50 states. Results indicate that all states maintain some level (directly or through contractual arrangements) of basic information on the number and location of formal complaints, mediations, and…

This report discusses the outcomes of a study that investigated the characteristics of 959 families participating in the Minnesota TEFRA program, a federal Medicaid option for children with disabilities which allows caregivers to purchase support needed to keep the children in the community. Findings indicate that families of children with special…

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different modes (modalities) of assigning raters to test items. The impact on total constructed response (c.r.) score, and subsequently on total test score, of assigning a single versus multiple raters to an examination reading of a student's set of c.r. responses was evaluated for several mixed-item…

This final report discusses the findings of a study that investigated the extent to which severe and/or high cost disabilities are evenly or unevenly distributed among the population of special education local plan areas (SELPAs) in California, and if the population-based special education funding formula should be adjusted. Results of the study…