Critiques the Bush Administration's "America 2000" education initiative, in particular the call for national testing as a major tool for student assessment and education reform. Discusses the difficulty of designing accurate instruments, the drain on resources for other needs, and the ineffectiveness of testing as an agent for reform.…

An interview with the federal secretary of education, Richard W. Riley, covers the new administrator's policy goals, strategies for educational reform, perceptions of the federal role in education, approaches that differ from previous administrations', solutions for disadvantagement, and attitudes about free speech. (MSE)

Outlines disparities in educational access, proposing reforms for equalizing opportunities to learn and examining social and economic challenges; reducing achievement gaps; inequality and achievement; the influence of funding on achievement (particularly among African American students); what matters in teaching (e.g., access to quality teaching,…

Argues that recent federal education legislation will not eliminate unequal funding, school performance inequities, and student achievement gaps that have persisted in the poorest school districts. Asserts that adequate, equitable, and targeted human and financial resources and standards are necessary, and that the slight increases in federal…

Assesses the distribution of poverty areas in the United States relative to public library outlet locations to begin discussion on the best possible public library funding and development policies that would serve individuals in poverty areas. Provides a comparative analysis of poverty relative to public library outlets using two common methods of…

The World Bank is a body that declares its vision to be a world free of poverty. It has long recognised that poverty and illiteracy are closely correlated and that illiteracy is a hindrance to economic and social development. The 180 or so governments that own the Bank have declared literacy to be a human right, so the Bank itself presumably also…

The United States has long been concerned with providing equal, quality education for all its citizens. With state-granted equity funding to needy districts comes the responsibility of wise use of equity monies. This study is an example of how three New Jersey districts invested their equity funding in a highly effective early literacy…

Over the past twenty years, strategies adopted by governments affected by human immunodeficiency virus and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) have gradually changed to ensure a more holistic and effective response to the epidemic. Two major shifts have occurred. Countries have moved from a strictly "health" to a "multisector"…

This fact sheet summarizes data gathered in the 2007 annual survey for the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program. This was the eighth annual survey of ATE projects and centers conducted by The Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University. Included here are statistics about the program's grantees and…

In the fall of 2006, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and the Unified Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that called for a third-party research firm to analyze resource use across the Los Angeles school system. Education Resource Strategies (ERS) was chosen to conduct this analysis. The study was…

Since its establishment in the 1860s, Washington's higher education system has evolved rapidly to meet a myriad of state needs in fields as diverse as agriculture, bioscience, chemistry, environmental sciences, engineering, medicine, law, business, computer science, and architecture. Today, higher education, like other vital state functions, faces…

Every educational change occurs with an equal and opposite reaction to that change. Some changes and their opposing reactions which illustrate this point are: (1) team teaching versus the negative dynamics of group planning; (2) justifications for funding special education versus emphasis on average and gifted students; (3) school site management…

This document lists core standards and occupational knowledge and skills that have been identified and validated by industry as necessary to all Georgia students in secondary-level human services occupations programs. First, foundation skills are grouped as follows: basic skills (reading, writing, arithmetic/mathematics, listening, speaking);…

This paper provides background on the Library Services and Construction Act (LSCA) program, describes the context for making decisions about future priorities, and presents proposals for changes in the Utah State Library Division policies, services, and funding. A discussion on federal funding for library services includes a brief history of LSCA,…

This study evaluated the relationship between Massachusetts special education expenditures and revenues and the overall allocation of school budgets between special and regular education. An introduction reviews the study's background, census-based funding in Massachusetts, education reform efforts in the state, the Foundation Budget approach…