Teens and young adults in Maine are at greatest risk for being either the offender or the victim of violence. At present, prevention activities in Maine are limited and fragmented. This document marks the beginning of a study of incidence and impact of violence among Maine youth. The process involved in conducting this was significantly hampered…

This briefing book from the Children's Defense Fund contains factsheets on child care and early education issues. Areas covered include basic facts about early childhood education and care; their importance to children, families, and communities; some of the challenges facing families who need day care; and key child care and early education…

Responding to increased interest in the development and education of children, many states have invested in initiatives to facilitate school success of prekindergarten-age children. Although national progress is encouraging, individual state initiatives are uneven, ranging from bold innovations with major funding to inaction and reliance on…

This publication presents the New Jersey State plan for the education of children of homeless families under the guidelines of the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987. An introduction reviews current demographics of the homeless population, particularly children and youth, and highlights planned state responses. A second section…

New state laws and regulations designed to improve teacher quality are described in this policy brief. The new policies represent eight strategies for dealing with teaching quality issues: testing and screening; teacher compensation; preservice training and certification; staff development; enhanced management and supervision; teacher job…

This paper suggests that contemporary educational historians have failed to appreciate the extent to which the institutional response to industrialism was actively induced by the financial hegemony of the new corporate elite and simultaneously advanced by the emerging authority of the central state. Further, it argues that progressive era higher…

This report of the Task Force on Teacher Education in Missouri focuses on producing a high-quality cadre of teachers. The report is organized around three themes: (1) supply and demand of teachers, teacher recruitment, and selective admission; (2) appropriate preservice preparation of teachers with academically rigorous teacher education programs;…

Focusing on the shortage of minority group teachers, the first section of this book discusses global issues related to the teacher shortage. It is pointed out that a great imbalance exists between multicultural school populations and racially homogeneous teaching staffs. Some specific solutions and suggested reforms are made for increasing the…

Meeting nutritional needs of children in West Virginia is vital to the state's economic development. A malnourished, uneducable population will be unemployable in a high tech society and the state cannot afford custodial and welfare costs resulting from childhood malnutrition. Evidence of nutritional need in West Virginia includes low rate of…

The problem of attracting and retaining qualified teachers is defined; and the complicating factors, current research, and policy options and implications are outlined in this issue brief. Complicating factors cited range from increased employment opportunities for women and minorities outside the teaching profession to difficulty in objectively…

Concern for performance management has increased sharply in recent decades in both the public and private sectors. This has been particularly true in the management of state and federally funded human resource development programs. Legislative purpose, level of use, the role of performance standards, appropriate measures of performance, target…

State practices affecting the reporting of Higher Education General Information Survey (HEGIS) data were surveyed. Although all but three states coordinated the HEGIS collection and reporting effort for at least some group of institutions in the state, the survey revealed a relatively weak state role in editing the data collected from the…

Data for this review of Alberta, Canada's School Act by the Policy Advisory Committee for the School Act Review, included 200 written submissions from members of the public, community groups, and educational groups; oral presentations by 23 groups; discussion by committee members and others at 20 locations within Alberta; and the results of a…

This document examines three major federal statutes affecting school energy conservation, describes laws and regulations enacted in North Carolina to promote school energy conservation, and touches on possible energy options open to schools. The federal laws discussed are the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975, dealing with the…

This paper examines the development of Alaska's Public School Fund, its current status, and its potential as a major revenue source for elementary and secondary education. The fund, which was created following the 1915 federal school lands grant to Alaska, is examined for the 1916-58 territorial period, the 1959-78 early statehood period, and the…