Description of the One-Stop Career Centers, an initiative of the Employment and Training Administration of the Department of Labor, soon to be available in each state, focuses on whether people with disabilities will be able to use these centers effectively to receive needed support and training. Strengths of and issues faced by One-Stop Career…

The U.S. Secretary of Labor outlines goals of her department and discusses the One-Stop-Career Center program as a major component for reaching these goals. (JOW)

Discusses the experiences surrounding the application for and reception of federal awards designed to assist new investigators in the transition from doctoral research to building a federally-funded research program. Details the extensive preparation needed to pursue such a grant and outlines the different phases of implementing the research…

Describes Individual Development Accounts (IDA), a federal program that combines low-income individuals' savings with matching funds for such goals as home ownership, education, and small business startup. Discusses their effect on community building and how extension educators can participate in establishing IDA programs. (SK)

Discusses the rise of the United States Film Service through the auspices of government relief organizations as part of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal, the films which were produced by Pare Lorentz, and its demise brought about financial and political conflicts. (Author/AEF)

Describes two points of view regarding age-related public programs (Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security): that of devolutionists who would curtail them and safety netters who maintain the government's role is indispensable. Uses Relative Deprivation theory as a framework for teaching public policy about aging. (SK)

Describes efforts of the federally-funded TRIO Student Support Services program at Kankakee Community College in Illinois. The program helps simplify the educational process for low-income, first-generation, or disabled college students. Describes how the program helps students through encouraging career clarity, intensive academic planning,…

Today, the word "assessment" is apt to conjure up unpleasant thoughts of the often acrimonious controversy involving high-stakes testing. As important as that debate may be, the authors of this article argue that there is an issue of far greater consequence facing reading educators. To what extent is the instruction they provide informed by the…

A program designed to provide student aid has spun out of control, becoming a cash cow for colleges and universities. The Department of Education has not adequately controlled the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Originally, traditional lending institutions…

This article reports that Republican and Democratic leaders of the U.S. Senate education committee have joined the debate over the implementation of Reading First, with a call for an investigation into the federal program by the watchdog arm of Congress. The request to the Government Accountability Office follows allegations that federal officials…

Purpose: This article presents results of a survey of the attitudes and practices of managed care organizations (MCOs) concerning consumer direction. The study focused on understanding several alternative measures of consumer direction and the factors that are associated with the MCOs concerning those measures. Design and Methods: The MCOs that…

Students are well served by course simulations that employ active learning styles and student-driven interaction. For debate on political issues, particular public policies are quite effective in stimulating that discussion. We developed an in-class simulation of political debate on the issue of Social Security. We describe the simulation itself,…

In this article, the author introduces a series of practical strategies to support the development of an innovative and technology-rich curriculum. The author begins with the importance of understanding what possibilities for innovation exist given the relationship between curriculum, equity issues, and education reform. The author then discusses…

This study determined the effectiveness of Kindergarten Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (K-PALS) for English Learners (ELs). We compared 20 K-PALS ELs to 20 Control ELs and to 20 K-PALS non-ELs on early reading skill acquisition, using a pretest-posttest control group design with matched samples. We also compared proportions of ELs unresponsive…

This analysis examines the demographics of the special needs population in public and private schools in Oklahoma and estimates the impact on school enrollments providing tax credit funded scholarship grants for special needs students. The author and his colleagues develop a model that shows how the expenditures of Oklahoma's school districts vary…