English language learners make up the fastest growing segment of the student population, but they are one of the lowest academically performing groups of students and the achievement gap widens as students progress through school. Dr. Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos, the Intercultural Development Research Association's (IDRA's) inaugural Jose A.…

Proceedings of the October 2002 meeting of the Rural School and Community Trust in Manchester, New Hampshire. The finance scholars at the meeting discussed a broad range of issues in rural finance, with particular emphasis on adequacy and equity. (Contains 26 references.) (PKP)

This collection of seven papers examines current theoretical perspectives on public-school finance. The first paper, "Reflections on the Limitations of Our Ability to Measure Schools' Productivity and Some Perspectives from the Past," assesses the inherent difficulties in measuring school productivity, particularly if one is concerned…

This paper provides a concise overview and critique of the proceedings of the 1992 annual conference of the American Education Finance. Issues addressed include new finance mechanisms for educational provision, spatial inequities, the funding of special needs education and the impact of expenditures on pupil performance. (Author)

Outlines the development of thinking concerning equal educational opportunities as related to school finance. Discusses effective schools research and its implications for educational equity, school operation, and professional preparation and practice. The roles of individual schools and competent leadership should prevail over preoccupation with…

This document contains the proceedings of presentations made by the Fiscal Issues, Policy and Education Finance Special Interest Group of the American Education Research Association (AERA). Ten articles focus on equitable funding systems for K-12 education and examine school financing in the following states: Florida, Illinois, New York,…

The meeting reported in this document was attended by 128 persons associated with Illinois public schools whose purpose was to collectively address restructuring the Illinois school aid formula and issues integral to an adequate school funding system and equitable educational opportunities for all children in Illinois. The overall goal was to…

This document contains papers from the Annual State Data Conference and includes the following: (1) "Does Money Matter for Minority and Disadvantaged Students? Assessing the New Empirical Evidence" (David Grissmer, Ann Flanagan, and Stephanie Williamson), which demonstrates that additional money matters for minority and disadvantaged…

Analysts of public school-district funding have recently begun to examine the allocation of resources to schools, the equity and effectiveness of school-based funding, and the productivity of the national public education system. Each of these factors may influence the educational resources that a child receives. This document contains papers by…

Policy suggestions for achieving the equitable and effective funding of Maryland public schools are offered in this document. The ideas presented draw upon papers presented and discussions held at a statewide conference entitled "Setting the Agenda for Funding Equity." Purposes of the conference were to develop the policy elements of a…

This volume contains short papers and commentaries from a conference on rural education in Iowa. Prefatory notes compare the characteristics of Iowa rural students and rural schools to those of the North Central states in general, and discuss two rural education issues repeatedly identified at the conference--equity of educational opportunities…

This document contains information about the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's six initiatives and comments from participants at the annual Policy Seminar, sponsored jointly by the department and the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL), July 11-13, 1994. The document contains the participants' comments regarding the…

The papers collected for this volume were selected from the fiscal proceedings of the 2001 and 2002 conferences of the National Center for Education Statistics. They represent current research in public-school education finance. The papers are as follows: "What We Know and What We Need to Know About Vouchers and Charter Schools" (Brian…

Based on the realization that the rapid worldwide growth of educational systems over the last two decades has not produced the expected eradication of social inequality, an international seminar was held for educational policy-makers, planners from developing countries, research workers in the area, and representatives of aid agencies of 33…

Summaries of conference presentations on college savings and prepayment plans and related tax, policy, and social issues are provided. The conference objective was to communicate the issues to constituents with the most at stake: parents, students, and relatives; state and federal legislators and staff; and developers of plans for higher education…