In 1995, Georgia became the first U.S. state to provide universal prekindergarten to 4 year olds. Although the lottery-funded program has received more attention from policymakers than any other program, there has been no systematic effort to chronicle the program's evolution or to draw lessons from its experience. This report illustrates the…

This report contains collective data on Hawaii's schools, showing trends over time and, where appropriate, comparisons with data from other states. It includes data from 246 public schools and 7 school districts for the 1996-97 school year. In 1996-97, enrollment growth, which had exceeded 1.5% for 5 years, declined sharply to 1%. Dropout rates…

This report evaluates how good a job the states are doing when it comes to putting policies in place that will improve teacher quality. Forty-nine states are included; Oregon and the District of Columbia did not participate in the survey. States receive grades in whether: (1) they hold schools, principals, and teachers accountable for results; (2)…

This report examines local school-to-work partnerships in Pennsylvania and summarizes the lessons that can be learned from them. It includes information on how local partnerships work, functions of local school-to-work partnerships, and partnership activities such as establishing educator in the workplace opportunities, making business…

At the request of the Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families, the General Accounting Office (GAO) examined programs and services funded at federal and state levels providing direct early childhood care and education for low-income children up to age 5 years. Also examined were state and local assessments of difficulties low-income parents…

In light of increasing evidence that good early childhood programs lead to school success, reduced delinquency and crime, and better job opportunities and productivity, state legislators are developing policies to improve these services. This report is designed to provide state lawmakers and their staff with research and state examples of policy…

To participate in the state grant program of the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), Connecticut is required to prepare a Five-Year State Plan. This plan establishes goals and objectives for the State consistent with the purposes of LSTA, describes the activities that will meet those goals and describes the procedures that have and…

This report provides an overview of state-sponsored college savings and prepaid tuition programs. It notes that as of October 1997, 41 states had one or more state-sponsored college savings or prepaid tuition programs. The report explains that state-sponsored savings plans provide certain incentives for savers through a number of different…

This document provides guidance and practical suggestions for Wisconsin public libraries in ensuring that all youth will have convenient and equitable access to materials and technology at public libraries to meet their informational, educational, cultural and recreational needs. The body of the document is the plan itself, which includes goals,…

This report describes the accountability system for the Texas public schools and notes recognition the system has received. Since 1993, the state has had an accountability system for prekindergarten-12 schools. The addition in 1998 of an accountability system for educator preparation makes Texas the first state to create a prekindergarten-grade 16…

Bringing standards, assessment, and accountability from the state down to school districts is not the right way to implement new policies. Standards, assessment, and accountability must be thought of in a holistic way, and the complexity of the issues must be recognized. Educators must welcome the demand and directive that standards be…

For nearly 40 years, the federal government has helped provide early childhood development for children of low-income families through Head Start and other programs. This study examined how Georgia, New Jersey, New York, and Oklahoma expanded their preschool programs for at-risk students to serve more children, focusing on: how programs were…

The annual "Maryland Teacher Staffing Report, 2004-2006," provides information about teacher candidates completing programs from Maryland institutions of higher education and the hiring needs of local school systems. The report also outlines a number of critical incentives and strategies for the recruitment and retention of quality teachers for…

The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) was assigned the task of summarizing Indicator 1--Graduation--for the analysis of the 2005-2010 State Performance Plans (SPP), which were submitted to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in December of 2005. The text of the indicator is as follows: Percent…