This vocational program book is intended to assist vocational rehabilitation counselors in moving toward the goal of community employment for people with autism. The first section considers vocational issues for this population and discusses the following: autism and work, educational experiences/programming, vocational evaluations, purposes of…

Recently, legislators have become interested in school privatization as a tool to increase educational choices, introducing more than 400 bills related to privatization during the 1998 session. The education privatization movement is a compilation of many different efforts to expand the role of private schools in education. The efforts include…

In Brigham et al. v. State of Vermont (1997), the Vermont Supreme Court struck down the previous state-funding system and directed the legislature to come up with a new system that would eliminate the inequities among the local school districts. An analysis of this decision and its consequences is offered here. The paper recaps the funding system…

In an effort to improve student achievement in low-performing districts, 22 states have developed academic bankruptcy laws, allowing them to intervene in districts that consistently fail to satisfy state education performance standards. This policy brief presents an overview of these statutes. The text offers a comparative summary of state…

Using Guilford County (North Carolina) School District's implementation of North Carolina ABCs legislation as a backdrop, this paper discusses the unintended consequences that school-improvement plans create for administration. The ABCs legislation ties a large-scale testing program to a requirement that each school develop a community-supported…

One of the consequences of Ohio's educational accountability efforts mandated under Ohio Senate Bill 55 (SB 55) and the traditional testing programs of Ohio school districts is the generation of huge amounts of data. In order for school-based educators to organize and explore these voluminous amounts of information, they need exposure to…

This report provides an analysis of faculty salaries in the University of California and California State University systems. The report contains the parity percentages obtained through analysis of the data submitted to the University and State University by their respective groups of comparison institutions; estimated faculty salary parity…

The study reviewed the legal relationship between the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its member institutions and the national reform movement in intercollegiate athletics, and proposed legislation that would mandate due process guarantees in all association proceedings with its member institutions. Legal research confirmed…

The impact of state reform initiatives on Kentucky public schools is described in this paper, with attention to financial and facility repercussions. State legislative action in 1985 established class size limitations and new certification programs, which necessitated reorganization of the middle schools. Following the Kentucky Supreme Court's…

In 1972, the Maryland Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) became law in that state. The amendment provides that "Equality of rights under the law shall not be abridged or denied because of sex." This document surveys the legislative reforms that have been enacted to implement the ERA in the 12 years following the law's ratification. It also…

This report addresses how, and to what extent, institutional accreditation might be utilized in lieu of part or all of the State licensing review. During 1989, the State enacted legislation that considerably raised the licensing standards for private postsecondary institutions. These new State standards were used as a basis for examining the…

This study sought to quantify economic impacts associated with Texas state expenditures on higher education by (1) quantifying the reduction in Texas' economic activity associated with reduced spending by the private sector due to taxes levied for higher education; and (2) quantifying the increase in Texas' economic activity associated with the…

This paper discusses specific rights of gifted students and their parents under the laws of New York State. The following areas are covered: Chapter 740 of the Laws of 1982 (which states that if a district accepts State funds for gifted programs, it must provide services to gifted pupils); a provision under Chapter 53 of the Laws of 1980 which…

The purpose of this report is to inform New Jersey legislators, the governor, and other public officials about the status of child care in the state and to make recommendations that include government and private sector activities. An introductory section describes the structure of the New Jersey Child Care Advisory Council (CCAC) and lists the…

The theoretical constructs underlying legislative approaches to at-risk student statutes are examined in this paper, with attention given to the ways in which educational institutions make certain factors significant to student success. Legislative approaches closely follow the epidemiology model, which attempts to identify, predict, and immunize…