The Department is pleased to submit this "Report to the Legislature: Academic Support Programs," pursuant to Chapter 61 of the Acts of 2007, line-item 7061-9404. This report provides information regarding Fiscal Year 2008 Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) support for the Classes of 2003-2012 funded through these…

The work-life policies and benefits practices of public universities and the extent to which lesbian and gay (LG) faculty, staff and families receive different work-life benefits than their heterosexual married counterparts are examined. The analysis was conducted by searching university work-life benefits websites. Major benefits for domestic…

Outlook is the monthly newsletter for the Council for American Private Education (CAPE). Each issue contains information relating to private education such as: new legislation and regulations, the most recent research, court rulings, national trends, federal initiatives, private school news briefs, and more. This issue contains the following…

Meaningful access to higher education is a cornerstone of economic opportunity. Higher educational attainment strengthens the workforce, increases earnings, and often leads to a better quality of life--for individuals and the broader society. Limited financial aid, however, undermines Texans' participation and success in our colleges and…

Few studies have focused on practitioners' perspectives on and interpretations of official language policies in schools and how such policies shape their practices. Teachers are an integral part of the process of policy appropriations that occur within and across policy levels (state, district, school, and teacher). Through interviews with…

This study focused on current practices of character education in Virginia secondary schools and intended to establish baseline data. The research was conducted in two phases and used a mixed methodology. Of the 621 secondary schools in Virginia, a combination of 243 urban and county schools were randomly selected to participate in Phase One of…

Indiana legislators are currently debating the merits of a proposal to adopt a statewide tuition scholarship tax credit program. The proposed program would make available $5 million in tax credits that businesses and individuals could claim by making donations to non-profit Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs). SGO donations would be matched…

Cyber charter schools are public charter schools which are entirely online and typically serve all grades from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Pennsylvania implemented widespread charter school legislation as early as 1997. This has offered a great number of Pennsylvanians options in their public schooling. One of these options has been…

Background Context: Throughout United States history, immigrant education has been shaped and defined by political struggles over immigration, language rights, national security, and educational equity and access. Bilingual education has become the contemporary battleground for these struggles. In 1996, in California, a struggle ensued between…

The 2009 Nevada Legislature approved Senate Bill 317 (SB 317) requiring that Nevada's public high schools, including charter schools, provide instruction in financial literacy. In an effort to assist school districts with implementation of instruction in financial literacy, the Nevada Department of Education assembled a task force (Financial…

California school districts are being expected to "do more with less." They face critical and competing pressures to improve academic achievement while remaining fiscally solvent in a time of increasing budgetary pressures. This report examines the financial circumstances of California's school districts and the actions they have been…

Montana's definition of a basic system of quality public elementary and secondary schools includes educational programs for at-risk students (20-9-309, MCA). State statute defines an at-risk student as a "student who is affected by environmental conditions that negatively impact the student's educational performance or threaten a student's…

Texas launched its ambitious strategic plan for higher education, "Closing the Gaps by 2015," in the year 2000 to create a statewide vision for closing the higher education gaps within Texas and between Texas and other leading states. The plan focuses on bringing Texas to national parity in four critical areas of higher education:…

To prepare students for success in life, the twenty-first-century American high school needs to shift its focus from preparing for college "or" career to achieving college "and" career readiness for every student. In some areas of the country, progress is being made on this front. One of the most comprehensive efforts is the…

Training, recruiting, developing, and supporting talented and effective educators throughout their careers is known as human capital resource management (HCRM) in education. HCRM has been identified in recent literature as one of the ways in which districts and states may increase school effectiveness and improve student learning (Heneman &…