Almost two years into the federal Race to the Top program, states are spending their shares of the $4 billion prize at a snail's pace--a reflection of the challenges the 12 winners face as they try to get ambitious education improvement plans off the ground. Through the end of March, the 11 states and the District of Columbia had spent just 14…

The author reports on the federal budget proposal for fiscal year 2012 in which President Barack Obama singled out education as an area crucial to the country's economic future. He called for bolstering programs he deems critical to his vision for a renewed Elementary and Secondary Education Act and proposed new ones in research, early-childhood…

More than a dozen education programs--including high-profile efforts focused on literacy, teaching, and learning--face the prospect of a permanent federal funding loss after they were chopped from a stopgap spending measure signed into law by President Barack Obama last week. The temporary spending law, intended to keep the government running…

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives appear determined to make deep cuts to education and related programs in the temporary spending bill that would keep the federal government operating for the rest of the fiscal year, even as President Barack Obama seeks a modest funding boost next year. That sets up a fiscal face-off in the…

Federal officials plan to overhaul the reporting requirements for higher education-based teacher preparation in favor of leaner, outcome-based indicators of program quality, according to plans outlined in the president's fiscal 2012 budget request. To bolster the overhaul, the budget also proposes a $185 million new formula grant program, dubbed…

The Talent Search (TS) program is one of the federal TRIO programs, a group of eight outreach programs funded by the U.S. Department of Education that are designed to support and assist students from disadvantaged backgrounds to progress through the academic pipeline from middle school to attainment of a postbaccalaureate degree. (Contains 6…

The "Local Technology Plan Guidelines" serve as the basis for the Department's annual technology data collection. This report takes a look at the data submitted by 344 school districts, examining the progress Massachusetts school districts are making in meeting the recommended guidelines. In doing so, it will gauge the degree to which…

This publication is part of a series of tools and resources on financing and sustaining youth programming. These tools and resources are intended to help policymakers, program developers, and community leaders develop innovative strategies for implementing, financing, and sustaining effective programs and policies. This guide outlines strategies…

An evaluation is given of the performance of the 96th Congress on child-related federal programs. (JD)

This report describes the Department of Education's process for estimating costs of the Pell grant program, which provides grants to financially needy students pursuing a postsecondary education. The Department uses a three-step process to develop its Pell grant budget estimate: a computer cost model incorporating over 30 economic indicators, a…

This document presents the testimony of Arnold P. Jones, Senior Associate Director of the United States General Accounting Office, before the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and Refugee Affairs, on the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. The Act established a legalization program that permits undocumented aliens to become permanent…

In fiscal year 1995, Head Start--the centerpiece of federal early childhood programs--was appropriated $3.5 billion to provide a range of services to eligible, preschool-aged children from low-income families. Since 1990, Congress increased funding for Head Start by 135 percent to allow more children the opportunity to participate and to improve…

The Emergency School Aid Act (ESAA) of 1972 authorizes grants or contracts to nonprofit organizations (NPOs) and local education agencies (LEAs) to support the LEAs' efforts to desegregate or to reduce minority group isolation or its effects. The NPO program is a small component of ESAA which provides financial assistance to community…

Presents the testimony of Donald McCurdy, president of NSTA, to the subcommittee on science, research, and technology of the U.S. House of Representatives concerning the budget proposed by President Reagan, which if adopted, would end any involvement of NSF in the science education programs in U.S. colleges and universities. (Author/SK)

Describes tentative federal budget cuts affecting science education in the National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Energy, National Institutes of Health, and the specific areas these budget cuts will affect. (DS)