This issue brief discusses the importance of tobacco use cessation efforts for youth. Section 1 discusses the need for tobacco cessation for youth, explaining that despite increased attention to the prevention of tobacco use among youth, there has been little attention to youth who already smoke, and few programs for youth have proven successful.…

This report is designed to familiarize American Counseling Association members with the concepts and terminology of managed care, and the various options for regulating managed care to safeguard the interests and rights of professional counselors and their clients. Topics covered in this report include controlling costs, private sector oversight,…

This fact sheet discusses the importance of providing state legislators with accurate information and gives guidelines for state education agencies to use when communicating with legislators about special education. The guidelines include: (1) focus on solutions; (2) be accurate; (3) include timelines for specific actions; (4) provide examples of…

A charter school is a public school that is operated under a detailed contract with a public agency and that may be exempt from many state and local regulations. This policy brief provides a brief overview of charter school characteristics and legislation, and discusses the concerns of policymakers in four states: Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia,…

Eliminating social promotion, retaining students in grade, and using proficiency standards to determine students' progress through grades was intended to make schools accountable and increase academic achievement. Research evidence demonstrates that grade retention does not improve achievement and may increase the chances of a student dropping out…

Legislation passed during the 2001 Iowa legislative session established the Student Achievement and Teacher Quality Program, Senate File 476. This legislation requires the Iowa Department of Education (DE) to annually report the statewide progress on the following: (1) Student achievement scores in mathematics and reading at the fourth and eighth…

The Maine Adult Education Directors' Handbook offers a basic overview of the Adult and Community Education system in Maine. The information is general and intended to provide a background to the person initially becoming involved in adult education--director, teacher, school board member, advisory council member or superintendent. The Handbook is…

In 2003, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 5135, which directed each public four-year college and university and the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) to develop policies to ensure that undergraduates complete their degree and certificate programs in a timely manner. These policies were to address students who do the…

In September 2002, the California Legislature adopted Supplemental Report Language (SRL) directing the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) to convene a task force to examine alternative delivery systems for the State's Cal Grant program. This report responds to that legislative request. The recommendations contained in this report…

Urges that mandatory sickle cell screening laws be repealed, and that all screening programs be voluntary; bogus sickle cell organizations are a major crisis in black communities and must be eliminated; research and education in sickle cell disease is badly needed. (Author/JM)

Article provided an insight into the problems of students in securing their right to disagree and to freely express themselves. (RK)

Describes some of the 65,000 cases of child abuse reported each year in the United States, and examines the role of the school in reporting suspected cases. (WM)

Discusses state government and its relationship to higher education in general and in particular extension and continuing education. (Author/RK)

Study questions treatment services offered to children in trouble and suggests mental health services be specifically strengthened. Excerpted from Juvenile Justice Confounded: Pretensions and Realities of Treatment Services'' published in 1972 by National Council on Crime and Delinquency. (DS)