Federal Student Aid's core mission is to ensure that all eligible Americans benefit from federal financial assistance--grants, loans and work-study programs--for education beyond high school. The programs administered comprise the nation's largest source of student aid: during the 2005-06 school year alone, approximately $78 billion in new aid was…

Funding for youth employment and training has been scaled back during the past few decades. In addition, funding for workforce development services is spread among multiple programs and agencies, resulting in a fragmented funding environment. To address this issue, the youth provisions of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) aimed to move this…

In 1988, Congress passed the "Technology-Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act" (P.L. 100-407) ("Tech Act") to assist states with identifying and responding to the assistive technology (AT) needs of individuals with disabilities. Grants awarded under the "Tech Act" were used by states to create…

The Freedom to Learn (FTL) program is a statewide initiative coordinated by the Michigan Department of Education and Ferris State University in Big Rapids. Now beginning its third year, the program targets underperforming middle schools in 100 of the state's 500 districts. More than 23,000 students and 1,500 teachers have been issued HP nx9010…

U.S. federal policies do not provide a universal social safety net of economic support for women during pregnancy or the immediate postpartum period but assume that employment and/or marriage will protect families from poverty. Yet even mothers with considerable human and marital capital may experience disruptions in employment, earnings, and…

This paper reports the results of a telephone survey of 151 undergraduates who withdrew in their first year of study at a post-1992 institution. It focuses on the negative experiences which they reported during their time at the university and the ultimate reasons for leaving, exploring in particular issues around choice of course, academic…

This third edition of the "ES Review" brings together, in one setting, some of the best work from 2008-09. It features: (1) K-12 Accountability (Measuring Skills for the 21st Century (Elena Silva); Beyond the Bubble: Technology and the Future of Student Assessment (Bill Tucker); Testing the Limits (Bill Tucker); Changing the Game: The…

Faced with shrinking state and local tax support and an increased demand for K-12 educational reform, school leaders must use creative means to find money to improve and deliver instruction and services to their schools. This handbook describes innovative strategies that school leaders have used to find scarce dollars for purchasing educational…

A press release and accompanying polling data provide a brief summary of the findings and implications of a national opinion survey, concerning federal child care assistance. The national opinion poll, conducted by Republican pollster Vince Breglio between February 26 and March 5, 1995, showed that Americans are deeply divided over congressional…

Noting that the strength of society is inextricably linked to the strength of its families, this book examines the evolution of current principles and practices in family support, and discusses future directions in quality services, training, and evaluation. The 20 chapters in this book are: (1) "America's Children and Families: An…

The relationship between education and broad changes in American society is explored in these chapters, most of which were previously published essays. The first part of the book examines families, schools, and the challenges of economic opportunity. Chapter 1 examines the relation between family and schooling in colonial 19th-century America,…

Corporate funding is now being used to invest in the improvement of community dependent care. This strategy benefits the firms by: (1) ensuring that employees will be absent from work less frequently due to childcare responsibilities; (2) providing a flexible strategy for meeting a variety of community needs; (3) improving community-firm…

The Star Schools Assistance Program has been funding activities since 1988. It provides projects with seed money to develop distance learning programming and equip sites. In addition, Star Schools has served as a focal point for demonstrating innovative uses of technology to advance educational opportunity and improvement. This paper represents…

The Star Schools Program has funded projects to explore innovative educational applications of technology in distance education. Funded projects have applied a variety of technologies, including videodisks, compressed data transmission, fiber optic technology, and computer networks. Program evaluation is a mandated aspect of the program. This…

This report highlights trends of migrant education in Michigan from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s. Migrant education services include instruction in reading, math, oral language, English as a second language, and tutoring in other subjects. Support services include medical and dental screenings, career guidance, transportation, emergency…