Background: Federal law requires most school districts to develop school wellness policies (SWPs), which state agencies assist in by providing templates. Templates provide standard language, which districts may edit for numerous reasons. We aimed to identify the frequency/consistency of template usage and identify the types of edits districts make…

Drawing on interview data from reading policy actors in California, Michigan, and Texas, this study applied Kingdon's (1984, 1995) multiple streams model to explain how the issue of reading became prominent on the agenda of state governments during the latter half of the 1990s. A combination of factors influenced the status of a state's reading…

This paper explores the education policy adoption process in the Texas legislature and role of professional educators in influencing critical decisions relating to the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classes. This case study traced the wielders of power, power interactions, the actors and sources of their power, and…

Focusing on the role and process of planning in the delivery of mental health services to the Mexican American community in Texas, this monograph examines the nature, context and purpose of planning; analyzes the interplay between federal and state mandates for planning; and assesses the status of current community mental health centers' (CMHCs)…

Uses survey data from Texas and North Dakota to examine characteristics of farmers experiencing financial stress and to assess relative utility of adoption/diffusion, structural, and ecological frameworks for explaining levels of farm financial stress. Finds theoretical frameworks inadequate to explain differences in financial conditions.…

The Strategic Planning Evaluation of Curriculum Assessment of Performance (SPECAP) project was designed by Texas Tech University to assess the implementation of programs by 25 tech prep consortia in Texas. This report describes the most effective tech prep practices discovered by SPECAP through analyses of consortia planning and implementation…

A study examined the ways in which practitioners in four states were defining the terms coordination/cooperation/collaboration when directing the monies set aside in Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) funding for use in coordination among educators and job training providers. Case studies of the use of 8 percent set-aside monies were conducted in…