All educators, legislators, and citizens must engage in self-examination to resolve some of the value conflicts in our society that contribute to today's crisis in education. Suggestions are offered to school board members, administrators, teachers, public officials, and citizens for ways they can help improve the educational system. (Author/WD)

Twenty-six congressional staff members dealing with educational legislation were surveyed concerning their sources of information and the relative importance and value of educational inquiry in various stages of the policy process. Conclusions were drawn and recommendations regarding improvement of the process were made. (MH)

Discusses the conversion project of the congressional papers of Senator John Heinz into digital format and the provision of electronic access to these papers by Carnegie Mellon University. Topics include collection background, project team structure, document processing, scanning, use of optical character recognition software, verification…

Examines the work of the college or university chief financial officer (CFO) in government relations, focusing on the CFO's responsibilities, methods of working with state legislatures, pitfalls in legislative relations, and special problems faced by institutions in capital cities. (Author/MSE)

State legislatures' 1998 sessions have produced an array of new laws and programs intended to improve access to college: by overhauling higher education systems, particularly two-year colleges; creating or expanding scholarship programs; increasing appropriations substantially so public colleges can hold down tuition; and helping students avoid…

Summarizes the relationship of President Franklin Roosevelt to Congress and its role in creating New Deal legislation. Presents a lesson plan using primary documents that allows students to explore congressional responsibility for enabling the Great Depression and for legislation to deal with its consequences. Includes copies of the documents.…

This document records testimony regarding the Department of Education's slow pace in providing States the assistance they require to implement No Child Left Behind's provisions for English Language Learners (ELLs) and the status of recent efforts to correct that; practices for training teachers of ELL students and for improving their academic…

Lawmakers face the challenge of strengthening the teaching workforce by supporting and demanding excellence. The purpose of this report is to acquaint state legislators with the goals and activities of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) and to underscore the ways in which state legislatures might work with the NBPTS to…

This document summarizes the media's reaction to the release of the 1991 "National Education Goals Report: Building a Nation of Learners," and public response to the National Education Goals Panel's (NEGP's) call for specific feedback on its work. Results will be used by the NEGP to improve the format and content of future reports.…

Purpose of Michigan State University's Project 90 Priority Assessment was to extract, synthesize, and delineate a series of potential initiatives for public higher education in Michigan that reflect the key proposals of recent state and national studies. The study sought to compare the priorities of state legislators and officials with those of…

This booklet provides information to help prepare undergraduate students for academic internships with the federal government. Most interns serve without pay; however, the opportunity to observe and participate in government provides important guidance for future decisions, and even potential employment opportunities. The student should do…

This essay explores the somewhat uneven course of the public library as a knowledge institution in America and its relevance during the current information age, particularly in the United States, where there is a basic connection between access to knowledge and the political system. The public library situation is considered in terms of the…

This report for the National Academy of Engineering's Office of Public Awareness represents the second phase of an examination of public opinion about engineering and technology. This document presents an analysis of six qualitative, focused group discussions or focus groups. Five of these groups were college educated Americans and one was…

The General Education Provisions Act (GEPA) was created in 1968 to take into consideration the specific concerns of education as they relate to the federal regulatory process. Setting down standard procedures for education regulation, the GEPA has created enforcement problems, turf battles, and mountains of regulations. In a major revamping of…

A discussion guide, one in a series on constitutional reform issues developed by The Jefferson Foundation as part of the Jefferson Meeting on the Constitution project, examines proposals to change congressional terms. The first section discusses representation and the sovereignty of the people through the issues of actual and virtual…