While research shows that exclusionary discipline practices in the early years are ineffective and developmentally inappropriate, young children continue to be suspended and expelled at high rates. An increasing number of states have taken steps to ensure that young children are not removed from programs due to their behavior. This report explores…

Educators and researchers have been fighting the reading wars for the last century, with battles see-sawing literacy instruction in American schools from phonics to whole language and, most recently, back to phonics again. Over the last decade, 32 states and the District of Columbia have adopted new "science of reading" laws that require…

A master plan in higher education is developed to address the academic and workforce needs of a particular state. The master plan helps serve as the roadmap for implementation of proposed strategies to reach state goals in education and degree attainment. In Tennessee, Drive to 55 is a state-wide effort to increase the number of Tennesseans with a…

Teachers need career pathways that provide new challenges and sustained opportunities for leadership without leaving the classroom. Better opportunities for leadership and innovative pathways help to increase the retention of strong teachers. Although few such programs existed several years ago, a growing number of states, districts, charter…

Career and technical education (CTE) programs of study are subject to rigorous state and federal accountability systems that provide information on key student outcomes. However, while these outcome measures can form a basis for identifying high- and low-performing programs, they are insufficient for answering underlying questions about how or why…

Care Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRISs) have advanced and matured, a number of states and localities have undertaken evaluations to validate the systems. Such efforts stem from the desire to ensure that the system is designed and operating in the ways envisioned when the system was established. Given that a central component in a QRIS…

Merit pay programs for educators--sometimes referred to a "pay for performance"--attempt to tie a teacher's compensation to his/her performance in the classroom. While the idea of merit pay for classroom teachers has been around for several decades, only now is it starting to be implemented in a growing number of districts around the…

In February 2014, the Tennessee State Board of Education (SBE) requested that the Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center (ARCC) provide assistance to the SBE's Basic Education Program (BEP) Review Committee. The SBE requested additional information on the use and effectiveness of market-based teacher compensation and market-based incentives by…

The present paper reviews literature on older youth in foster care with a focus on those older youths in residential. We aim to examine what has been written in the scholarly literature about this specific group. Literature was reviewed from the last decade on the problems these youths face and potential solutions for them in the program…

This book presents the results of an extended study of service integration efforts in Colorado, Florida, Indiana, and Oregon, highlighting the nature of existing service integration and the potential of systemic reform efforts. The first part of the book examines the range and complexity of current service integration efforts, offers a definition…

This publication presents papers from a 1982 child sexual abuse conference sponsored by the Colorado State Department of Social Services, designed to identify major issues and trends and to stimulate the exchange of perspectives and practices among persons concerned about preventing and treating child sexual abuse. The first section of the…

Tests the effectiveness of a teacher education course designed to reduce teacher biases, increase their commitment to social justice, and entice them towards collaboration with community members. Results show a positive increase in all areas of focus except social activism. (GR)

The phenomenon of minimum competency testing (MCT) is explored, beginning with its origins in public concern for educational accountability. Three major themes appearing in the states enacting prescriptive legislation are described: state standards/state test (Florida); state standards/local test (Oregon); and local standards/local test…

Reviews the history of bilingual education in the United States from the 1974 Supreme Court ruling to the present. Concludes that federal policy must be flexible in allowing districts to select the program that best meets their needs. Discusses three specific programs. (JOW)

Two trends have become issues for school management in recent years. One is that educational leadership is becoming increasingly a more complex and difficult job to carry out and the other is that an increasing number of people with little administrative experience are moving into educational roles. The implementation of local, school…