Real estate professionals can be an important source of information for home buyers and sellers about regulations and practices that protect water quality and properties from environmental damage. Lake Champlain Sea Grant (LCSG) Extension identified a deficit in real estate education covering these topics for real estate professionals. Accredited…

The phenomenal growth of homeschooling in recent years demonstrates not only the appeal of this educational approach but also the notable policy acumen of the homeschooling movement's leading advocates. This analysis examines and critiques the empirical claims made by homeschooling proponents to justify further expansion and deregulation of the…

Rising college costs are of increasing concern. At the 12 public universities in Illinois, average increases in tuition were modest, generally in the 4% range, until 1999 when individual campuses begin to increase tuition at double digit rates. In 2002-2003, the overall average increase in tuition/fees more than doubled at 13.79%. In an effort to…

Little is known about the supply side of voucher programs, despite schools' central role in program effectiveness. Using survey and interview data on the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program (ICSP), I analyze schools' participation decisions and early implementation experiences to understand better how schools respond to program regulations. I find…

This article reviews research on homeschool learner outcomes and evaluates opposition to homeschooling. It synthesizes research on learner outcomes related to homeschooling in areas of students' academic achievement and children's social, emotional, and psychological development and the success of adults who were home educated and finds generally…

School voucher and education tax credit programs have proliferated in the United States over the past 2 decades. Advocates have argued that they will enable families to become active consumers in a free and competitive education marketplace, but some fear that these programs may bring a heavy regulatory burden that could stifle market forces.…

The focus article "Road Maps for Learning: A Guide to the Navigation of Learning Progressions" by Black, Wilson, and Yao (this issue) is a veritable tour-de-force, covering a great deal of education ground while spanning the heights from models of the interplay among curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment to interpretations of student…

There is significant interest in reforming retirement plans for public school employees, particularly in light of current market conditions. This article presents an overview of the various types of state regulation of public pension plans that affect possibilities for reform. Nearly all of the various approaches to public pension plan protection…

Current educational policies require the participation of students with disabilities in state assessments. Their participation has raised a number of issues, among them the need for accommodations. In this article we consider the role that assistive technology (AT) can play to alleviate current accommodations demands, and highlight research and…

Special program and other school administrators regularly confront the issue of whether students under their charge are entitled to receive homebound instruction and if so, what procedures and criteria they should apply in coming to a proper decision. Where a student is entitled to such services the administrator must decide what subjects must be…

Laws that prohibit persons under a domestic violence restraining order from purchasing or possessing a firearm are a primary way to keep guns out of the hands of batterers. In July 2005, the California Attorney General's Task Force on the Local Criminal Justice Response to Domestic Violence issued a report called Keeping the Promise: Victim Safety…

In this case study, we use a consensus model as a framework for examining the professional development component of a standards-based reform effort initiated by a school district in the United States. We describe the district's actions, analyze the extent of adherence to the model, and identify reasons for what occurred. Although administrators…

The development and dissemination of Program Standards and Performance Indicators for disability services in higher education provides research-based direction for postsecondary institutions, consumers and governmental agencies with respect to the services necessary to provide equal access for college students with disabilities. Twenty-eight…

Camden, New Jersey, a city of 80,000 located directly across the Delaware River from center-city Philadelphia, is, by any index of urban decay, one of the nation's most distressed urban centers. While severely ineffective, the city houses the essential building blocks of future recovery: branches of four colleges and universities and two major…

A study assessed effectiveness of Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) education courses required in Florida of persons engaged in professions requiring licensure. Results indicate few differences in knowledge or attitudes before and after the course. In general, course participants had good knowledge of…