Among the behavioral theories embraced by American business are those of Frederick Herzberg and Abraham Maslow. Herzberg proposed a theory about job factors that motivate employees, and Maslow developed a theory about the rank and satisfaction of human needs and how people pursue those needs. This digest briefly outlines both theories and then…

The National Career Development Guidelines is one of several initiatives that has supported the expansion of state-level career development capacity and comprehensive, competency-based career guidance programs in various local program settings. This initiative, sponsored by the National Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (NOICC), has…

This digest identifies current programmatic efforts to inform and support parents and briefly reviews research on the effectiveness of parent education and support programs. The discussion of approaches to parent support focuses on parent education programs, the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments (Public Law 99-457), Head Start, state…

Summarizes recent ERIC documents and journal articles and highlights some World Wide Web resources that discuss the efforts of states to fund prekindergarten programs. Highlights resources including information on delivery systems, coordination among various programs, analyses of policy trends, program descriptions, and models of family-school…

Researchers have long investigated whether smaller classes improve student achievement. Their conclusions suggest that class size reduction (CSR) can result in greater in-depth coverage of subject matter by teachers, enhanced learning and stronger engagement by students, more personalized teacher-student relationships, and safer schools with fewer…

Goal One of the six national education goals now embodied in the Goals 2000: Educate America Act states that "By the year 2000, all children in America will start school ready to learn." One of the objectives formulated to meet this goal asserts that "Children will receive the nutrition and health care needed to arrive at school…

This brief overview of minimum competency testing and disabled high school students discusses: the inclusion or exclusion of handicapped students in minimum competency testing programs; approaches to accommodating the individual needs of handicapped students; and legal issues. Surveys of states that have mandated minimum competency tests indicate…

This digest considers the use of performance assessment within outcomes-based accountability systems for students with and without disabilities. Application of performance assessment to students with disabilities involves defining the outcomes, developing performance standards, developing assessment accommodations, and scoring. Implications of…

This digest examines issues concerning performance assessment of students receiving special education services. Issues addressed are: (1) need to infuse performance assessment into national programs including the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS); (2) current lack of inclusion of…

Key aspects of P.L. 99-457, the Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of 1986, affecting handicapped infants, toddlers, and preschoolers from birth to age 5 are summarized. Presented in a question answer format the information digest addresses the following questions: What children are eligible for early intervention services? Are these…

This digest presents an overview of accommodations for students of limited English proficiency (LEP) and an overview of inclusion practices on statewide assessments, with emphasis on the accommodation known as linguistic simplification. The inclusion of LEP students in statewide testing programs over the last decade has been uneven. In the…

This digest examines the rural teacher shortage from a policy perspective and suggests strategies to address the problem. The rural teacher recruitment and retention problem varies across states. An adequate number of teachers are trained each year nationwide, but the problem is with distribution. Recent research on rural teacher recruitment and…

Accountability has been a developing issue for community colleges for the past several years. Demands that two-year colleges provide evidence of the achievement of their goals has placed a heavy burden on institutional research offices. A number of organizational models have been used by community colleges in carrying out the research function,…

The standards-based educational reform initiatives of the 1990's call for assessment innovations to support high standards. To document state assessment policies and to develop policy recommendations for assessment innovations, the George Washington University Center for Excellence and Equity in Education surveyed state assessment directors in…

Thoughtful, well-planned and systematic reviews of both instructional and noninstructional programs provide community colleges with a way of determining whether programs are meeting stated objectives and what standards of performance should be maintained. Programs that need improvement or should be eliminated can be identified, and fiscal…