This report shares the initial Phase 1 results from a quantitative and qualitative study examining the feasibility and desirability of offering Minnesota students with limited English proficiency (LEP) a reading test with bilingual test items and answer choices. In considering the use of a native language translation accommodation to the Minnesota…

This book examines welfare reform, occasioned by the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA), which abolished Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) and replaced it with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). It is based on research in Ohio, Kansas, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan that…

A study focused on results from seven of the earliest state welfare reform initiatives with some form of welfare time limit. Four programs--Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, and Wisconsin--- included benefit-termination time limits triggering cancellation of a family's entire welfare grant. Arizona and Indiana imposed benefit-reduction time limits,…

New Hampshire has adopted a standards-based statewide assessment, the New Hampshire Educational Improvement and Assessment Program (NHEIAP), which is designed to measure students' learning against proficiency standards at grades 3, 6, and 10. Because of the difficulty teachers had in interpreting the NHEIAP results, a custom-designed software…

This report summarizes the activities of the three components of Colorado's statewide extended campus during the 1998-99 academic year. The first, and largest, section focuses on the extended studies program, which has been Colorado's primary vehicle for the delivery of off-campus instruction since 1972. The report provides an overview of the…

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant has great potential for funding out-of-school time and community school initiatives. While the flexibility that states have in allocating TANF funds presents significant opportunity for innovation, it also presents a dizzying array of policy options. This strategy brief presents…

Some highlights included in the 1999 Annual Report of the Idaho Division of Vocational Rehabilitation (IDVR) are the following: (1) an all-time record number of people were served (10,363), and 1,442 people were rehabilitated and entered employment, close to the 1998 record; (2) a collaborative effort with the Division of Human Resources was…

This publication provides sample components of the Ohio Career Passport, including the rationale and purpose of each. Section 1 contains examples of the letter of verification, a letter from a school or district administrator, which confirms that the individual is a student at the school. Written on school letterhead, it sends the signal to the…

This study examined the experiences of 15 elementary schools in Washington state demonstrating relatively slow improvement on the reading and mathematics sections of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. Since the passage of educational reform legislation in 1993, Washington has undertaken a systematic overhaul of its K-12 public school…

Federal Medicaid long-term care regulations do not require states to offer home and community-based service (HCBS) alternatives; rather, they are offered at the discretion of each state. The two most significant Medicaid HCBS programs are the Medicaid 1915(c) HCBS waiver programs and the Medicaid Title XIX personal care services (PCS) optional…

The Connecticut Jobs First welfare reform initiative, implemented statewide in 1996, includes a 21-month time limit on cash assistance, generous financial work incentives, and other features. Its primary goal is to reduce welfare use and increase self-sufficiency through work. To facilitate evaluation of the program, between January 1996 and…

This report presents findings of a survey study examining the efforts of southern states and the District of Columbia to implement the goals and action steps of the Action Plan to Improve Access to Child Care Assistance for Low-Income Families in the South. Surveys were sent to the members of the Southern Regional Task Force on Child Care,…

Recognizing the relationship between child health and success in school and the importance of health insurance in remaining healthy, the Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools project of Consumers Union works to connect children in schools with California's state-sponsored health insurance program. This guide provides ideas on how a school and community…

Recreational boating education in the United States is offered through a system of government agencies and non-government organizations, including the boating industry. The "best practices" in boater safety education include means of ensuring the availability of education programs, ensuring the content and quality of the educational…

The University of Central Florida (UCF) has developed an award winning faculty development program providing experiential, collaborative learning for instructors to build online programs. A project is now underway to extend training throughout the state of Florida. Supporting students is also essential to the success of teaching online. The…