This study examines administrator perceptions of Pennsylvania's state assessment data. This study had three main purposes. The first purpose was to investigate the value and utility of state assessment data to inform decision making and the possibility of improving student achievement through the routine use of state assessment data. The second…

In 2019 the Pennsylvania Treasury launched a state-wide children's savings account (CSA) initiative, Keystone Scholars. Keystone Scholars provides $100 in college savings to eligible families - all children born or adopted in Pennsylvania after January 1, 2019. In this introductory research brief, we describe how CSAs are an important tool for…

Data-based problem solving within a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) can help state education agencies and local education agencies (LEAs) improve graduation rates for students with disabilities. To facilitate problem solving within an MTSS, states and LEAs need efficient systems and processes for analyzing and integrating data across…

This Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) annual performance report for the reporting period of 01-01-2016 to 12-31-2016 in Pennsylvania provides a detailed summary of accomplishments, lessons learned, challenges, and strategies that the state of Pennsylvania will implement to address those challenges. Some accomplishments…

The Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) program, authorized by Congress in 2011, is designed to improve the quality of early learning and development programs for children from birth through age 5. This discretionary grant program is administered jointly by the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services…

This Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) annual performance report for the year 2015 describes Pennsylvania's accomplishments, lessons learned, challenges, and strategies Pennsylvania will implement to address those challenges. Pennsylvania's remarkable progress in increasing participation in their tiered quality rating and…

This Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) annual performance report for the year 2014 describes Pennsylvania's accomplishments, lessons learned, challenges, and strategies Pennsylvania will implement to address those challenges. Following accomplishments, this report presents: (1) Successful State Systems; (2) High-Quality,…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), most recently reauthorized in 2004, requires the inclusion of transition services in an individualized education program (IEP) for students with disabilities by the time they reach their 16th birthday, or earlier if determined appropriate by the IEP team. The IEP must include "(1)…

Response to intervention (RTI) arose, in part, from the limited success of the pre-referral process, an approach advocated in the 1980s and 1990s, and accurately measuring the discrepancy between aptitude and achievement in young children. Reflecting these concerns, when the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was reauthorized in…

Response to intervention (RTI) can be both a system for providing early interventions to struggling students and a special education diagnostic tool for evaluating and identifying students with specific learning disabilities. Contributing to the very limited literature on state-level approaches, this report describes how nine states define and…

This report combines a theoretical study of state school aid programs with an empirical study of school districts' responses to such programs. The author's theoretical investigation of existing systems of general state aid to school districts suggests two propositions: school districts do not maximize an ordinary utility function in the light of…

The document presents the 1977 annual report on child abuse as required by Pennsylvania's Child Protective Services Law of 1975 (Act 124). Following an introductory section is a section summarizing Act 124, which is designed to facilitate the identification of and service provision to cases of child abuse. Section III outlines activities of the…

The document presents the 1978 annual report on child abuse as required by Pennsylvania's Child Protective Services Law of 1975 (Act 124). Following answers to 11 common questions, an introductory section examines the nature and scope of the problem and Pennsylvania's response in Act 124. The Department of Public Welfare activities are reported…

The paper presents tables, charts, and narrative containing statistical data on special education hearings in Pennsylvania. Sections address the following: 1980 hearings by exceptionality, 1972-1981 hearings by exceptionality, issues covered at hearings, hearings concerning the extended school year program, occupations of hearing officers, hearing…

This report (1) reviews the concept, development, and effectiveness of the Regional Library Resource Centers (RRC's) of Pennsylvania as a part of the state's organization for public library services; (2) recommends possible desirable changes in their number, scope of services, interlibrary relationships, and funding; and (3) drafts regulations for…