A brief overview of the status of state programs designed to assess teacher competency is provided. Tests commonly used by states include tests of persons who apply to educational programs (admissions tests) and tests for graduates of teacher education programs (certification tests). Admissions tests are used by 24 states, while certification…

Minimum competency testing (MCT) programs for students are growing in popularity and being adopted by many states. In order to determine the extent of the MCT movement, researchers at North Carolina State University surveyed state departments of education in all 50 states. In updating these data for 1986-1987, it was found that 64 percent of the…

This report represents the first comprehensive summary of child abuse and neglect reporting in Colorado. Section I of this report presents an initial summary listing the number of confirmed and unconfirmed reports of abuse over a 14-year period and a look at key findings based on analysis of confirmed reports. Data and analyses are presented in…

This final report on southern American cities cites as its major recommendation the need for each southern State to have articulated urban policy. Findings are summarized in the areas of State urban policies, intergovernmental relationships, economic development policy, planning and growth policy, annexation policy, and energy policy. Background…

The tables in this report summarize each state's revenues and expenditures for 1977. Information presented for each state includes per capita amounts of financial items; relation of finances to personal income; revenue by source; expenditure by character and object and by type and function; intergovernmental expenditure by type of receiving…

Each spring, Arizona students participate in testing as part of the state's assessment program. Elementary and middle school students in grades 3 through 8 take the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards--Dual Purpose Assessment (AIMS DPA) in reading, writing, and mathematics. These tests serve as an important measure of student achievement for…

Through a series of tables, this document presents a profile of the system of higher education in Mississippi. The first section focuses on finances, with tables portraying the history of funding for higher education in Mississippi, appropriations per student, faculty salaries, and information on operating budgets and tuition and fees. The next…

This 6th edition volume presents a detailed report on the growth of programs for persons with disabilities at the federal level and in the states. The two chapters of part one provide a cross-disability perspective, "An Institutional History of Disability" (David Braddock and Susan Parish) and an empirical study across federal, state,…

The federal government's key summer nutrition programs for low-income children are the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) and the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Administered by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the SFSP is an entitlement program funding public and private non-profit organizations to serve nutritious meals…

The Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) was a major new initiative in the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS), North Carolina, in 2000. The ALP was designed to help WCPSS meet its achievement goal of 95% of students scoring at or above grade level at grades 3 and 8 by 2003, with grade levels determined by the North Carolina End of Grade tests.…

This annual report complies with the requirements of Tennessee's Public Education Governance Reform Act of 1984, which directs the State Board of Education and the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to prepare a report on: (1) the extent of duplication in elementary-secondary and postsecondary education in Tennessee; (2) the extent to which…

This report contains aggregate and disaggregated state-level results from administrations of North Carolina's computer skills tests (performance and multiple choice) in 2000-2001. The report also provides limited information about the performance of school districts and charter schools. Additional data are included in this report about the…

This report is the second in a series of biennial, state-by-state 50-state report cards. As in the earlier report, state higher education systems are evaluated, compared, and graded in five categories of performance: preparation, participation, affordability, completion, and benefits. All states are given an "incomplete" in the sixth category,…

This state-by-state report card on higher education was created to assist the United States and each state in assessing and addressing the challenges higher education faces. The report focuses on key areas related to education and training through the baccalaureate degree. Data are from a variety of sources, including public opinion information…

Noting that a key challenge for policymakers and others who are concerned about the well-being of children and families is how to develop and improve policies that reward work and help low-income working families increase their earnings, this research brief examines the current and potential impact of state earned income credits (EICs) as a means…