For more than two decades, tax-credit scholarship (TCS) policies have helped American families provide their children with the learning environment that meets their individual needs. Now available in 19 states, nearly 300,000 students nationwide use tax-credit scholarships to attend the school of their family's choice. TCS policies create an…

This document provides a brief description of the context for, and use of, the European Training Foundation (ETF) Financing Prism, and includes a call for evidence regarding the development and implementation of vocational education and training (VET) financing policies, as well as the use of the prism itself. The components of the prism are…

Nearly half of students who drop out do so as a result of adverse conditions in the school, while 37% of dropouts are pulled out of school by challenges like financial worries, family needs, or employment. Only 14% of dropouts did so for reasons that can be described as failing out of school due to a lack of interest or academic progress (Doll,…

The first part of this learning package is a workbook designed to help teachers understand the concept of self-governance and appreciate the position that professional self-regulation is necessary to serve educational goals and teacher needs. Five units explore different aspects of the issue through pretest questions and answers, instructional…

This paper draws on the experience of various states in its discussion of questions, issues, and decisions that policymakers face as they plan their states' family support initiatives. The discussion is organized into three parts that correspond roughly with the stages of policy formation, program development, and program implementation and…

This handbook and the accompanying workbook grew out of a series of workshops on superintendent appraisal designed to find a way to clarify and strengthen the board-superintendent relationship and to enable boards to constructively evaluate superintendent performance. The guidelines are intended to acquaint board members and superintendents with…

This handbook is intended to help school board members promote and guide the planning process in education. The guide is directed toward long-range, comprehensive planning that involves setting goals, considering alternatives, setting objectives and strategies for accomplishing the goals, identifying and acquiring needed resources, and evaluating…

This workbook is intended to help the school board and superintendent tailor a performance appraisal system to suit their own needs. It consists of ten separate exercises that guide the board and superintendent through the planning and decision-making that must precede successful performance appraisal. The workbook contains exercises through which…

Emphasizing the role of the school board, these guidelines for community control of Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) school operations also discuss transferring BIA schools to public school operation, community contracting for services, and initiating other than school board community participation in school affairs. The guidelines for development…

This paper, which is intended as a guide for state policymakers, examines issues and steps in building state-level school-to-work systems. Discussed in the introduction are the state's role in creating a coherent school-to-work system. The following aspects of state-level governance, oversight, and vision are considered: setting system goals,…