This Quick Reference Document is being distributed by the Regional Resource Center Program ARRA/Fiscal Priority Team to provide RRCP state liaisons and other (Technical Assistance) TA providers with a summary of critical fiscal monitoring and support activities they may be involved in during calendar years 2011 and 2012. Like other documents in…

This Quick Reference Document has been prepared by the Regional Resource Center Program ARRA/Fiscal Priority Team to aid RRCP State Liaisons and other (Technical Assistance) TA providers in understanding the general context of state questions surrounding excess cost. As a "first-stop" for TA providers in investigating excess cost…

This document reports on those aspects of the findings of the National Study of Local Operations under Chapter 2 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981, the federal education block grant, that are concerned with the relationships among the federal, state, and local governmental agencies charged with administering federal…

This paper focuses on issues related to the management, goals, activities, and problems of the State Education Coordination and Grants set-aside of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). (This provision places 8 percent of each State's total allocation for training for Disadvantaged Youth and Adults (Title II-A) under the authority of the…

Trends described in the planning and management of block grant programs are based on 13 states' implementation of seven block grants: (1) alcohol, drug abuse, and mental health services; (2) community services; (3) education; (4) low-income home energy assistance; (5) maternal and child health services; (6) preventive health and health services;…

This report to the U.S. Congress reviews monitoring activities of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in regard to formula grant programs. The study looked at dates of the most recent monitoring visits to the state education agencies and calculated key steps in the monitoring process, such as the time from visit to issuance of the…

This report focuses on progress in the implementation of Part H of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) through a comparison of states' status on three yearly administrations of the State Progress Scale. The scale was designed to monitor implementation of the required 14 components in the stages of policy development, policy…

In order to improve desegregation of the elementary schools, and the low achievement level of elementary schools with high concentrations of poor and minority students, the Massachusetts Board of Education placed a coordinated approach to improving urban schools first among its objectives. The following educational objectives were set for each…

In the 20 years since the major Federal program for the disadvantaged began, surprisingly little has changed from its original vision. It is now time to question some of the basic policies of Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act in view of the change in conceptions about the Federal role and the recent state and local…

This paper is divided into the following sections: (1) State Capacity and Education, with regard to financial resources and policymaking ability; (2) State Education Reforms; (3) States and the Disadvantaged: A Historical Perspective; (4) Education Reform and At-Risk Youth; and (5) Recent Trends in Programs for the Disadvantaged. The capacity and…

This paper reviews the economic and political science literature, and the literature on Chapter 1/Title I in order to identify policy options that retain adequate fiscal accountability as well as insure program quality. Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 is the successor to Title I of the Elementary and Secondary…

This report consolidates the information from a series of reports by the General Accounting Office (GAO) on states' fiscal, programmatic, and managerial responses to the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981. Section 1 describes the major issues related to block grant implementation: (1) fiscal strategies adopted by states in response to…

This booklet is a guide to assist school districts in administering Chapter 1 projects funded through the 1988 Elementary and Secondary School Improvement amendments and focuses on areas of flexibility in Chapter 1 funding. An overview of Chapter 1 flexibility emphasizes that the legislation is designed to best meet the special educational needs…

Guarantee agencies and their financing are discussed in order to increase awareness of their role and to provide information for policy decisions. Information is provided on: the history of the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) program, sources and uses of funds by state guarantee agencies for fiscal years (FY) 1982 and 1984, federal advances repaid…

Over time, compensatory education has become an increasingly institutionalized and effective Federal program, characterized by the following: (1) cooperation; (2) mutual accommodation on the part of national, state, and local officials; (3) ready acquiescence to Federal guidelines at the state and local level; and (4) shared responsibility among…