Accreditation is one of the three tickets that every college in America must punch if it wants access to federal student aid (FSA) programs for its students. The current regulatory regime for postsecondary institutions forces each college wanting to participate in FSA programs to get authorization from the state in which it operates, meet the…

Informed and inclusive charter school authorizing means taking a community-based approach to better understand and meet the needs and interests of the students, families, and communities that charter schools intend to serve. This shift is unfolding in the context of state statutes and regulations and, in some places, local policies or processes…

This guidebook provides school councils and district School-Based Decision Making (SBDM) Coordinators with a list of tools and checklists when reviewing and revising school council bylaws and policies. The samples noted in this guidebook are just that, samples; they are not to be considered exemplars or the only way to organize a policy. A school…

The "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" (IDEA) 2004 and its implementing regulations of 2006 contain provisions for the transfer of rights of students with disabilities upon reaching the age of majority. (20 USC §1415(m); 34 CFR §300.520). Virginia regulations governing special education further detail these requirements at 8…

This article links research and practice through discussion of policy's conceptual aspects illustrated through real-world examples. Gifted education policy essentials, identification, curriculum and services, personnel preparation, and program management, assessment, and evaluation are described. Examples from studies of one state help the reader…

This "Stated Briefly" report is a companion piece that summarizes the results of another report of the same name. The goal of the study conducted by the Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands' Northeast Rural Districts Research Alliance (NRDRA) was to provide information about how and why high schools in the Greater…

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…

That college and university boards should have a policy on trustee conflict of interest is nearly universally accepted. Yet there is little consensus among institutions on just what the policy should be--and broad national consensus anytime soon is unlikely. Boards thus face a host of questions, many of which this document addresses, regarding…

This paper examines regulatory reform initiatives being considered and adopted in several states for the deregulation of academic program policies in public institutions of higher education. Many policymakers feel that academic program policies, which were designed to control growth and temper institutional aspirations, may instead hinder…

This study assesses how much control governments of the Commonwealth of Nations (formerly the British Commonwealth) are exercising over their universities. The study encompassed a review of the relevant literature, an examination of the acts and statutes which control universities, and a questionnaire sent to 70 university vice chancellors, which…