This article provides a history of the two large-scale assessment consortia that were funded in 2010 as part of the Race to the Top Competition, the Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC), and the Smarter-Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC). I compare the goals the consortia were funded to meet between 2011…

Data from all 2010-2011 undergraduate students, who received a Pell Grant disbursement at Kentucky's two-year and four-year public institutions, were used to simulate the eligibility changes to the Pell Grant program in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 and from the termination of year-round Pell. Specifically, these changes: a) the…

Three big-city districts--Chicago, Milwaukee, and New York--have terminated federal grants aimed at promoting performance-based compensation plans and professional development for teachers and principals. Overall, the 2010 Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grants to the three districts would have provided an $88 million payout over five years--nearly 7…

Discusses how the direct-lending program, popular with colleges, may be doomed; a lawsuit and changing political fortunes pose threats to the system. (EV)

Describes policy decisions that have acted upon the 1982 Fiscal Year budget and funding priorities of the Administration on Aging's Gerontology Career Preparation Program, and projects the probable consequences of the policy option now being weighed to eliminate all future funding. (University of Texas Press, Box 7819, Austin, TX 78712). (NJ)

Presents the viewpoints of seven social service veterans, all in the private sector, who discuss the effects of reducing welfare assistance. They respond to the question of what would happen if the government stopped adding people to the welfare rolls, i.e., no additional participants accepted for Aid to Families with Dependent Children, food…

Cites a shift toward a more conservative political agenda in Australia that parallels trends in Canada; analyzes the development of the child care system in one province of Canada to demonstrate that despite manifold distributions to the child care system, the lack of a constitutional dimension has left the program vulnerable. Presents the example…

The Office of Management and Budget has recommended the termination of numerous federal programs, citing a lack of program results as the primary reason for this decision. In response to this recommendation, several federal agencies have turned to logic modeling to demonstrate that programs are on the path to results accountability. However,…

Describes how a federal program let a California for-profit institution, the Masters Institute, expand its distance education offerings, but then led to its closure because of findings of financial aid fraud. (EV)