Teacher preparation plays a critical role in ensuring that teachers are prepared to lead and impact student learning from the first day they are responsible for student learning. The best way to ensure that every teacher is "profession-ready" from their first day as a teacher-of-record is for preparation programs to incorporate teacher…

A state education agency (SEA) can pull a powerful lever for school turnaround by setting goals publicly and releasing reports on progress toward those goals at turnaround schools to build public support for turnaround efforts. SEAs can gather information for reporting from data they already have available. This report clarifies indicators and…

Online learning has steadily become a more integral strategy for schools and districts in their efforts to offer students greater access to the courses they need. Where in the past, much of the online learning activity happened at the state level or regional level, more and more schools are exercising greater control over their online and digital…

This report describes the use of Lead Turnaround Partners (LTPs) in the current School Improvement Grant (SIG) program and provides the results of document review, surveys, and interviews with eight State Education Agencies and seven Lead Turnaround Partner organizations. The study focuses on the implementation of the transformation and turnaround…

In 2010, unprecedented levels of resources began to flow through state education agencies (SEAs) to support dramatic change in persistently low-performing schools under the expanded federal School Improvement Grant (SIG) program. The challenge for states is to leverage the federal investment to drive dramatic and sustainable change efforts in…

This report examines the involvement of the Commonwealth of Virginia in both the support and governing of public television stations. There are seven such stations in the state, operated by four educational television entities; each of these corporations is controlled by a board of directors made up of citizens from the particular area served by…

The role of state organizations in instructional television programming, program selection, production, and distribution are discussed and the overall management, funding, and cost forecasting for ITV are explored. Instructional television in Virginia, as discussed in this paper, is defined as the presentation via video format of information to be…

This analysis of the control and coordination of higher education programs involves those colleges and universities in Virginia that operate under direct state control. Chapter I explains why the report deals only with external controls rather than with the internal organization and structure of the institutions discussed. Chapter II presents…

Uses made of telemedia by various governmental agencies in Virginia in carrying out their functions are reviewed, and potentials for use offered by current technology are explored. The predominant uses for radio and television by those state agencies that have used telemedia are to distribute public service announcements (PSA's). Scripts, slides,…

This report describes the Virginia Public Telecommunications Council, an agency formed to manage and coordinate the Commonwealth's investments in and uses of all kinds of telecommunications services, facilities, processes, capacities, and products. In this respect they act as professional consultant, liaison officer, approval authority, planner,…

This study of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) was conducted to provide a basis for the comprehensive restructuring of the VCCS system offices and for the reduction of staffing levels. Part I provides background on the study, and its limitations, assumptions, and procedures. Part II outlines the purpose of the VCCS system offices and…

The publication describes the process which created the Rural Virginia Development Foundation and the potential contribution it holds for the agricultural sector of Virginia's economy and for the state's rural communities. Following an introduction, Part II provides background, operating assumptions, and principal justification for the Foundation;…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that each state participating in the federal early intervention program establish a state interagency coordinating council (SICC) to assist and advise the state lead agencies in achieving a coordinated service delivery system. Some states have also established local interagency…

Results of a national study of the use of funds provided by the 1974 amendments to Title VII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act by the state education agencies (SEAs) are presented. The study was undertaken to (1) describe and analyze SEA policies and activities regarding bilingual education, (2) describe and analyze the SEA-level…

In 1998, Virginia's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) was directed to evaluate the effectiveness of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicle's (DMV's) oversight of commercial driver training schools (CDTS) in Virginia. The evaluation included the following research activities: mail surveys of DMV CDTS oversight staff and CDTS…