The complex issues of promoting student mental health, privacy and public safety, and the balance among them, weigh on the minds of institutional leaders, educational policymakers, and local, state and federal officials. American campuses have a proud history of intellectual freedom, openness and public accessibility to their communities. However,…

State Compensatory Education (SCE) is a supplemental program designed to eliminate disparities in (a) student performance on assessment instruments administered under Chapter 39 of the Texas Education Code (1995, amended 2007), and (b) the rates of high school completion between students who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by…

The nation faces a youth citizenry that is disengaged and lacks the necessary knowledge, skills and dispositions to participate in and carry out their civic duties. This ECS Policy Brief summarizes the state-level goals and accomplishments of the Youth Legislative Engagement project and is intended for state policymakers, education leaders and…

This report discusses the State of California's fiscal condition and guides the reader through numerous factors that will influence State spending on higher education in the coming fiscal year. It also offers insight and observations on challenging policy decisions the Governor, the Legislature, and higher education leaders face in the coming…

A case study of Nebraska early childhood legislation, passed unanimously in 2005, shows the role of science in effective policymaking. By combining citizen advocacy, skillful work by legislators, and testimony by local experts as well as national scientists, Nebraska succeeded in producing bipartisan consensus on the importance of early childhood…

In a state as large and complex as California, education financing can become as complicated as rocket science. This two-page Q&A provides a brief, easy-to-understand explanation of California's school finance system and introduces the issues of its adequacy and equity. A list of resources providing additional information is provided.

Thirty-five to 45 percent of low-income American households do not possess a bank account. This statistic coupled with claims of price gouging by check cashers has prompted government intervention. The author finds that state legislation requiring banks to offer low-cost accounts slightly decreases the number of low-income minority unbanked…

In less than 2 years after the publication of the national report "A Nation at Risk," an overwhelming majority of states adopted many of the educational reform measures advocated in the report. The rapid adoption of the reforms among states with different political cultures, policy traditions, and partisan control raises the question of…

This site visit report describes the development and activities of the New Hampshire Family Support Network for families of people with developmental disabilities, and is based on a review of documents, interviews with key people, and participant observation. It begins with a brief history of family activism in New Hampshire, noting the early high…

A legislative mandate requires the Texas Central Education Agency to submit a report each odd-numbered year that includes data collected on students retained in grade, including the reason for retention. This report presents current summary data on the retention rates of Texas students by grade level, age, gender, and ethnicity for 1992-93;…

In an effort to understand one aspect of the relationship between the secondary and postsecondary sectors in Indiana, this analysis reports data regarding on-site instruction at the secondary school in which students earn dual credit. Under "dual credit" arrangements, a student simultaneously earns credit that will count toward meeting…

A charter school is an autonomous educational entity operating under a contract negotiated between the organizers who manage the school (teachers, parents, or others from the public or private sector) and the sponsors who oversee the provisions of the charter (local school boards, state education boards, or some other public authority). The…

New Mexico has a great sense of pride in its school funding formula as originally conceived. Over time, however, an increasingly politicized atmosphere led to changes in the formula. This paper incorporates input from school administrators and state policy makers to identify a variety of issues influencing the current status of school finance in…

In 1992, California became the second state to enact legislation enabling the creation of charter schools. This report provides information about 44 California charter schools that, as of the 1994-95 school year, had been in operation for at least 1 year. These 44 schools responded to a survey that was sent to each of the 62 California charter…

Child care licensing is a consumer protection responsibility of each state. Each licensing standard establishes a right that children and parents in private early care and education programs have in that state. Because each state sets its licensing standards at a level its citizens agree to support, child care differs dramatically among states.…