Genres, although aligning people to joint activity and joint attention, shape the substantive material or information represented within the bounded space of the text. Each genre creates a space that prompts the production of particular kinds of information to populate that space. The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 that mandated the…

The history of intergovernmental relations in educational policy has been dominated by regulations, categorical programs, and technical assistance by higher levels of government to stimulate or require lower levels to make changes in policy and practice. This paper summarizes recent research collected by the Consortium of Policy Research in…

This study examined how secondary institutions define and implement institutional academic standards and progress requirements for federal financial aid recipients and how the federal requirements for academic progress affect the distribution of grades at these institutions. The study used a mail survey of a nationally representative sample of 200…

This publication reports on the progress of the Clinton Administration's effort to reinvent the Federal government bureaucracy and how it operates and serves citizens. Part 1, "A Government that Makes Sense," describes the progress that reinventing government has made and reviews the context in which the initiative was launched including…

This document contains proceedings from a hearing held in Washington, D.C., on March 22, 1995, to gather information about the appropriate federal role in establishing national educational guidelines. The goal of the hearing is in conjunction with the overall objective of establishing a framework for policy initiatives that will create an…

This pamphlet explores how universities must integrate the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) with existing institutional leave policies and how universities can harmonize the requirements of the FMLA with other federal mandates, particularly the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). First, basic FMLA concepts are discussed, including…

During calendar year 1994, the U.S. Department of Education published significant revisions to the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR). These regulatory changes addressed the noncompeting continuation (NCC) application process for discretionary grants and cooperative agreements, the Department's implementation of the…

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) appointed a Joint Board to recommend changes in existing FCC rules to fulfill the regulatory mandates of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The Joint Board, which consists of three FCC commissioners, four State commissioners, and one consumer advocate, issued its recommendations to the FCC in a 500-page…

Maintaining safe schools requires the forging of partnerships to share information between schools and youth-serving agencies, including the police department, court system, youth parole and probation offices, and child protective services. All public elementary and secondary schools are subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act…

In order to develop a more uniform approach to determining the population of limited-English-proficient (LEP) individuals in the United States, and for purposes of educational decisions and resource allocation, the definition of this particular population is discussed in this theme issue. First, approaches currently used to estimate the size of…

This report presents the results of a survey of 808 postsecondary education institutions concerning effects of the 1992 Higher Education Act reauthorization on federal student financial aid. The survey was conducted in the 1994-95 school year through the Postsecondary Education Quick Information System (PEQIS). The reauthorization legislation made…

The Cooperative Extension Division (CED) of the University of Nebraska's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources has presented pesticide applicator training (PAT) for nearly 2 decades. Because Nebraska did not pass the complementary state legislation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as provided in the Federal Insecticide,…

This digest examines the mandates and requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). (Its scope does not include the IDEA's Part H program.) The digest gives a brief history of the IDEA, procedures for obtaining a copy of the IDEA and its regulations, and procedures for obtaining a copy of an individual state's special…

This guide addresses provision for transition services in the Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) of students with disabilities. It begins with regulations arising from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act pertaining to transition services. These regulations focus on definitions, participants in meetings, parent participation,…

This report reviews current state policy and practices in the disciplining of students with disabilities, as they are expressed in state documents including statutes, regulations, and other types of written records. Federal law, regulations, and case law are summarized in the report's introduction and background. Findings are presented in terms of…