In response to the rising demand for market-responsive education reform across the U.S., since 1998 more than twenty states have created Individual Learning or Graduation Plan (ILP/IGP) state policies. Using extensive policy document analyses and stakeholder interview data from four early-adopting ILP/IGP states, the goal of this four-state case…

This report presents the final results for the evaluation of the New Americans Centers (NACs) demonstration project in Arkansas and Iowa. It focuses on program operations and plans for program sustainability, while highlighting services provided through the demonstration projects in Arkansas and Iowa. It also documents outcomes for New Iowan…

In support of the conclusions and recommendations in the National Education Technology Plan (NETP), this article makes explicit the connections between the economic rationale used in the plan and the educational transformations it recommends. The article reviews macroeconomic research, microeconomic research, labor market and workforce studies,…

We study how the employment effects of enterprise zones vary with their location, implementation, and administration, based on evidence from California. We use new establishment-level data and geographic mapping methods, coupled with a survey of enterprise zone administrators. Overall, the evidence indicates that enterprise zones do not increase…

The key to economic and social development lies in the knowledge and skill base of human capital. This report, presented to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, calls for vigorous action on the part of the Government of Canada, in concert with the provinces and territories, to protect the Canadian economy from a skills shortage…

Is the United States getting it wrong when it comes to educating tomorrow's innovators in critical fields? It has been known for years that the only way to compete globally in information technology, engineering, nanotechnology, robotics and other fields is to give students the best educational opportunities possible. But do individuals have a…

This report identifies factors that influence a rural area's economic success or failure, and evaluates whether federal programs efficiently address rural economic problems. Data collection included a review of federal programs that provide funding to rural areas, and interviews with federal and state agency officials involved with rural…

This report presents findings of the first phase of an evaluation of the Targeted Assistance Program (TAP), A Federal program which funds services and projects that assist refugees in attaining economic self-sufficiency and reduced dependency upon public assistance. Following an executive summary and other materials, the report is divided into…

This report addresses current economic conditions in rural America and offers recommendations about the role the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) can play in providing rural development. The Task Force identifies issues for rural policy in the 1990's focusing on economic development. Current rural programs are described and…

This analysis examines the relationship between federal public investment spending and economic development in the special case of Appalachia. We propose that the effects of federal public investment spending on economic development operate indirectly through private capital accumulation. We use a spatial lag regression model to test our ideas for…

The Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 represents recent congressional action designed to improve the housing and living conditions of the nation's poor. Like the 1974 act, the older Federal model cities program (1968-72) was designed to benefit low and moderate income families, provide alternative uses for available funds, and allow…

The overall economic well-being of U.S. rural communities is on the decline. Rural America is now dependent on a highly diversified economy, and its problems will not be resolved through improved farm income alone. Various weaknesses in rural development policies must be addressed. The narrow policy focus on attracting manufacturing industries to…

In March 1989 this working group explored how the federal government might better address rural America's problems. The WGRD consisted of key officials from relevant federal departments and agencies, who came together to explore the following areas of rural development programming: (1) rural education and training; (2) rural economic development;…

Using a case study approach, the General Accounting Office (GAO) reviewed the results of 12 projects funded under the Urban Development Action Grant (UDAG) Program, which provided $3 billion in grants to distressed communities for economic revitalization and neighborhood reclamation projects. GAO found that the projects exceeded investment…

A 2-year exchange program between Purdue University's extension Department of 4-H and Youth and Togo's University du Benin, funded by the United States Information Agency, is described. In the program, eight Togolese fifth-year agricultural students spent 6 weeks in Indiana with farm families, and eight Indiana 4-H members--including three…