Increasingly, foundations are choosing to engage in public policy debates as a way of leveraging their investments and increasing their impact in advancing improvements community-wide, statewide or nationally. For foundations, influencing public policy decisions can happen in different ways: funding policy research and dissemination, building…

Recommends greater cooperation, especially concerning research, among political science, telecommunications, speech communications, and rhetoric. Discovers a useful paradigm in the combination of political content analysis and rhetorical analysis. Briefly discusses works that have synthesized these two approaches. (MJP)

Examination of old and new vocational initiatives in Alberta suggests that educators and employers support new school-to-work programs (Tech Prep; Registered Apprenticeships; Careers, the Next Generation). However, these programs are hampered by mixed policy messages; the resilience of existing practices; and lack of provincial resources,…

This article contends that a new concept of education finance has emerged in response to substantial alterations in the U.S. education policy environment. The major distinction between modern and old is that the latter was principally concerned with arrangements of inputs in K-12 schooling. The former, modern-era education finance, is concerned…

This article addresses concerns about the role of education policy in the context of knowledge-related public policy. Specifically, it raises concerns about how the technocratic and anti-social tendencies already observed in knowledge-related policy discourse may adversely influence the intellectual and cultural life of communities. A key goal of…

State and federal mandates for education reform call for increased accountability and the inclusion of students with disabilities in all accountability efforts. In the rush to implement high-stakes education reforms, particularly those involving tests or assessments, the particular needs of students with severe cognitive disabilities are only now…

The Education Law Center (ELC) sought an independent review of special education funding in New Jersey as part of a larger group of studies intended to critique the cost study conducted by Augenblick and Palaich and Associates (APA) and the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) and inform the ongoing public debate. In doing so, ELC recognized…

Countless reports have analyzed the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 on teacher quality and student achievement. What many of these reports truly leave behind, however, is the reality that state governments--not the federal government--have the strongest impact on the work of America's 3.1 million teachers. With that in mind, three…

The "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" examines what is arguably the single most powerful authority over the teaching profession: state government. This Colorado edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the first of what will be an annual look at the status of state policies…

The impact of date of birth on cognitive test scores is well documented across many countries, with the youngest children in each academic year performing more poorly, on average, than the older members of their cohort (see, for example, Bedard and Dhuey (2006) or Puhani and Weber (2005)1). However, relatively little is known about the driving…

The goal of this book is to generate discussion not only about how individuals can create meaningful educational experiences for all learners, but to challenge systems that necessitate a resilient nature. Ultimately, the authors promote the need for a foundation of socially just policies and practices in all educational settings and respond to the…

The purpose of this report is to provide policymakers and the general public with basic information about both the benefits and the costs of higher education. Some of this information illuminates the difference that postsecondary education makes to the prosperity of a state and its citizens. Also contained in this report are lesser known facts…

This research project, which was carried out between October 2003 and November 2004, aimed to address a lack of empirical evidence surrounding the admission and exclusion of pupils with special educational needs (SEN). While the relevant legislation and government targets are directed towards the equal treatment of pupils, regardless of their…

The size and adequacy of the federal workforce for carrying out scientific, technical, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities are ongoing concerns in many policy circles. Experts both inside and outside of government have voiced fears that this workforce is aging and may soon face a dwindling labor pool, a problem that could be compounded…

The 2005 Task Force of the Chancellor's Consultation Council was created to recommend long-term strategies to identify access and service goals for California Community Colleges (CCC), the resources needed to achieve these goals, and ways to obtain needed resources. This technical paper provides the Task Force with forecasts of plausible scenarios…