Most U.S. citizens support the elimination of race and gender prejudice and inequality, yet attitudes toward solutions have fluctuated in the years since the civil rights movement began. California, a state that has set precedent for antidiscrimination initiatives since 1934, is now at the center of struggles over affirmative action. The authors…

Conference participants examined how other states are preparing their farmers and rural communities to survive in the present "new world order," and considered whether Arkansas, one of only three states without a central agricultural agency, has the tools to forge strategies for the 1990's. "The Role of State Government in…

This 1995 report presents information on the progress that Tennessee has made toward its 26 educational objectives for preschool through graduate education. It examines the following four areas: (1) the extent of duplication in elementary-secondary and postsecondary education; (2) the extent to which high-school graduation requirements are…

Responding to increased interest in the development and education of children, many states have invested in initiatives to facilitate school success of prekindergarten-age children. Although national progress is encouraging, individual state initiatives are uneven, ranging from bold innovations with major funding to inaction and reliance on…

Disputing the claim that improved student learning requires stronger academic standards and stiffer tests, the authors of this book contend that effective state reform depends on coherence in policy and practice, and opportunities for professional learning. It draws on a study of a program in California that worked to improve mathematics teaching…

The impact of one-stop career centers on the U.S. Employment Service (ES) program was examined through case studies of one-stop initiatives in the following states: Georgia; Ohio; California; Iowa; Oregon; Massachusetts; Texas; Utah; and Wisconsin. Of the nine case study states, only Georgia had not begun instituting a one-stop career center…

The effectiveness of state enterprise zone programs was examined by using a hypothetical-firm model called the Tax and Incentives Model-Enterprise Zones (TAIM-ez) model to analyze the value of enterprise zone incentives to businesses across the United States and especially in the 13 states that had substantial enterprise zone programs by 1990. The…