Explores why California's ambitious new aid program, Cal Grants, misses its goals and shortchanges older students; millions in grants go unused while students complain of having eligibility taken away. (EV)

Explores the following aspects of state prekindergarten initiatives: (1) states take varied approaches to prekindergarten initiatives; (2) state policy decisions impact availability of programs; (3) many factors influence program quality; (4) barriers make programs inaccessible to some families; (5) collaboration efforts promote coordination at…

Expansion of newborn screening (NBS) has been driven primarily by a combination of advances in technology and medical treatment, and the sustained advocacy efforts of consumers and voluntary health organizations. The longstanding leadership of the March of Dimes has been credited by many as a critical factor in the expansion and improvement of…

This report for the College Opportunity Fund (COF) covers the first two fiscal years of the COF program, FY05-06, FY06-07. It describes the implementation efforts of COF program stakeholders, the statistics of participation in the program, and concerns of the program. COF enables qualifying resident students to use higher education tuition…

Teacher shortages have been steadily increasing across the nation, particularly in the field of special education. According to analyses conducted by the Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education (COPSSE), reasons for this include the fact that veteran special education teachers are retiring at a faster rate than new teachers are being…

This article provides a synopsis of how articulation agreements serve postsecondary education institutions and their constituents, provides an overview on the types of agreements, and discusses some of the issues associated with development of these agreements. The following questions frame the narrative: As community colleges grew in number and…

In 1996, the US Congress passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, changing the culture of welfare from a system of dependency to one of personal responsibility and economic self-sufficiency through workplace participation. Through the expert views of case managers and area employers of Wisconsin, this research…

E-portfolios are a rich, flexible tool for teaching, learning, and assessment. They provide institutions with a way to assess how well they are educating their students. However, it is important for institutions to know why e-portfolios are important learning and assessment tool for institutions both now and for the future. Higher education…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides several funding opportunities that can assist states in designing, developing, and implementing statewide education longitudinal data systems. These new and enhanced information systems will enable states to track student progress within and across the secondary and postsecondary education…

This paper presents a list of resources on what states are doing on the topic of Black male dropouts. These resources are taken from the report abstracts or summaries. This paper is a response to a request asking for these resources. (Contains 5 footnotes.)

This paper responds to a request asking for a Response to Intervention (RtI) background information and a scan of what states are doing in this area. This paper presents summaries that provide basic information about the status of state RtI initiatives in each of the southeastern states. The information was collected from State Education Agency…

A growing number of state leaders believe that it is essential to expand high-quality early learning and development opportunities for all young children before they reach kindergarten. A key component of this strategy is providing access to voluntary, high-quality pre-kindergarten programs, especially for low-income children. Over the last few…

"Collaboration" is a ubiquitously championed concept and widely recognized across the public and private sectors as the foundation on which the capacity for addressing complex issues is predicated. For those invested in organizational improvement, high-quality collaboration has become no less than an imperative. However, evaluators and program…

The National Science Foundation is investing millions of dollars in efforts to improve math, science, and technology education through its Statewide Systemic Initiatives (SSI) program. However, states are facing difficult challenges in accurately assessing the effects of these efforts on student learning. This issue of CPRE Policy Briefs examines…

President Clinton has repeatedly called for a bipartisan welfare reform bill that is tough on work and responsibility, but not tough on children. This means providing adequate child care to enable recipients to leave welfare for work; rewarding states for placing people in jobs; guaranteeing health coverage for families leaving welfare for…