This brief is part of a series intended to advance effective financing and governance of early learning supports and services in order to promote children's readiness for school. The series presents conceptual frameworks, an array of effective strategies, and the experiences of states and communities in advancing the early childhood agenda,…

This report is designed to inform policymakers and educators about the current status of key education policies across the 50 states that define and shape elementary and secondary education in public schools. Time and attendance policies cover length of school year, date for start of school, length of school day, year-round school, kindergarten…

Discusses different State approaches in dealing with child abuse. (JF)

Describes how State and Federal educators prepare for future increases in State funding. (Author/JF)

Presents controversy over damming of Wyoming's Upper Green River to supply water to the arid basins of eastern Wyoming. Possibilities of wildlife destruction, flooding of valley lands, and opposition to the construction of the Kendall Dam itself are enumerated together with legislative action to date. (BL)

Junior colleges may become the major centers for postsecondary occupational education in Pennsylvania. A new state master plan for higher education is expected to unify occupational education efforts. (MS)

In an effort to help prevent the deterioration of state health education programs, this discussion recounts major events leading to the present state of health education in New York. (MM)

State decentralization of higher education emerged as a significant governance trend of the 1980s to 1990s. Yet little is known about how or why decentralization first became an issue to which state governments paid serious attention. This study employs multiple theories to analyze the agenda-setting stage of policy formation in three states…

Articulates the critical importance of media programs and media specialists in implementing education reform initiatives. Examines why many library media programs are not consistently regarded as integral to reform, suggests ways that media specialists can maximize use of resources and services, and delineates media specialists' central role in…

In 1986 the Center for Policy Research in Education began a five-year study of state educational reform implementations and effects in six states (California, Arizona, Texas, Minnesota, Florida, and Georgia) chosen for their diverse approaches. Most efforts (not all successful) concentrated on increased academics, teacher professionalism, and…

Proposals for helping districts with severe financial problems range from various forms of privatization to administrative decentralization and boards of local control. An alternative approach to state takeovers employs a state government corporation (similar to the Tennessee Valley Authority) free of political influence, along with site-based…

Lack of respect for teacher preparation programs is pervasive. Various education associations' recommendations have spawned three kinds of policy activity: state limitations on teacher preparation programs, alternative certification programs, and increased local school district authority for continuing teacher development and recertification.…

Progress conceived as an open-ended movement to establish the goodness and sanctity of life is a potent myth underlying schooling. This paper provides some historical background to contemporary beliefs in change and social amelioration and shows the limitations of the progress notion as applied to American educational philosophy. Includes 34…