To date, only two states (Minnesota and California) have passed charter-school legislation. This report presents details from these two states regarding charter-school formation, including roles played by teachers and organizers, by local school boards as sponsors, and by county or state officials in providing an appeals process and technical…

This policy brief presents updated information on charter schools, particularly on developments in the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL) region. Contents include a letter from Toivola-Meadowlands Charter School students and interviews with two parents from the Toivola-Meadowlands, Minnesota, Charter Schools. The parents report…

Following a preliminary discussion of school effectiveness, school-based management (SBM) elements, changing roles for school community members, and common implementation problems, this newsletter summarizes a research project testing one school district's readiness for implementing SBM. The project attempted to determine the knowledge,…

A profile of achievements and future challenges facing Colorado's public education system is offered in this document. Section 1 describes challenges of the future, focusing on needs assessment and the changes in the state's demography. The second section provides information on educational developments and issues, such as accountability, national…

This report is one of three resulting from a 50-state survey on the development of family policies through the implementation of Public Law 99-457 (Part H) and focuses on the selection of case managers, qualifications and training of case managers, vehicles to monitor and supervise case managers, and financing the case management system. Among…

Despite many responses to the dropout problem, it remains unclear which school strategies are successful with at-risk students. State initiatives are well intentioned, but have certain limitations. Criteria such as local accountability, school-by-school regeneration and reform, longitudinal strategies, and horizontal coordination are needed. This…

This document contains witness testimonies and prepared statements from the Congressional hearing called to examine what the federal government as well as local and state governments are doing and can do to respond to the growing problem of crack cocaine, and what prevention and treatment approaches are effective. Opening statements and/or…

This document contains the text of a Senate hearing on barriers to health care for the chronically mentally ill. Senator Orrin Hatch discusses the history of health care for the mentally ill and the changing role of the federal government, and Senator Edward Kennedy summarizes legislation initiated for the chronically mentally ill. The…

This report presents the results of a survey of 2,000 Minnesota adults' opinions about public education in 1985. Following a discussion of study background and a summary of findings, the report is divided into ten sections, each dealing with a different survey question. Each section presents the question, shows the distribution of responses,…

Although teachers are a prime target of state reform agendas, recent research suggests that teachers are also major sources of influence on career ladders, an expensive and controversial reform. Assessment of Utah career ladder reform indicates that a 1983 Utah Reform Committee proposal aimed at differentiating salaries, creating hierarchical…

This paper describes the development of a state initiative to improve the quality of induction programs for new teachers in Maryland. The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) based its decisions about appropriate teacher induction programs on a variety of information sources from research and practice. The important steps in the creation…

Agricultural education projects of 23 state action groups and 4 national organizations are described in this directory intended for agricultural educators. Names and addresses of contact points for further information are included. (DC)

The work force in the state of Michigan is currently below the projected educational levels for new jobs, since more than half the new jobs that will be created between now and the year 2000 will require some postsecondary education. The biggest single problem that exists for Michiganians attempting to upgrade their skills is that there are so…

A re-published version of the 1959 "The Efficiency of Freedom," Report of the Committee on Government and Higher Education is presented. After a 2-year study (designed to define relationships that should properly exist between public officials and state institutions of higher education, identify the principal areas in which state control…

Chapter 5 of a revised volume on school leadership, this chapter presents the case for school-based management, stressing the principal's central role. In site management, the school is the primary decision-making unit. Decisions concerning expenditures, curricula, and personnel are made by school site staff, with help from parents, students, and…