With just months to go until the nation's overhauled K-12 law goes into effect, state policymakers are still scrambling to firm up the infrastructure for their education systems, under the new blueprint laid out in the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). They're doing it at a time of political change and policy uncertainty at the national level,…

Based on a fall 2017 survey of officials from 45 state education agencies, this report highlights early state efforts to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The report highlights states' views on ESSA's shift in control from the federal government to states and school districts regarding accountability and school improvement…

The federal School Improvement Grants (SIG) program, to which $3 billion were allocated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), supports schools attempting to turn around a history of low performance. School turnaround also is a focus of Race to the Top (RTT), another ARRA-supported initiative, which involved a roughly $4…

Examines systemic reform development from the perspective of local participants in nine states. Implementation varies with local technical capacity. State systemic reform agendas are frequently viewed as incompatible with pressing local issues. The most frequently criticized aspect of systemic reform is apparent lack of connection between state…

The findings of a task force study of New York City's implementation of a State dropout prevention law are provided in this report. An introduction describes briefly the historical background of the legislation, called the Attendance Improvement-Dropout Prevention program, which provided $28 million in supplemental funds to school districts with…

A survey of school districts was conducted to determine the initial progress and problems associated with the 1997 Class Size Reduction (CSR) Initiative. Data reveal that most school districts had enough space for smaller classes for at least two grade levels; small school districts were much less likely to report space constraints. The CSR did…

This article discusses Ontario's new Special Education Grant that provides funding on the school board's total enrollment and on an identified student basis. This new approach to funding was designed to minimize administration, in that only the highest-need students are identified for funding purposes. Implementation issues are examined. (CR)

Responses from 230 New York State school districts were analyzed to determine the impact of the new State handicapped regulations with regard to financial impact, meeting the 30-day time period between initial referral of a handicapped child and board action, variances, and programming and placement according to 4 criteria. In general, small,…

This study examines the politics of program implementation in Michigan. It focuses on relations between the Michigan Department of Education and the state's local school districts in the administration of state aid for compensatory education. With its accountability emphasis and with the many administrative issues that have characterized its…

A paper on the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (P.L. 94-142) provides information to state legislators on requirements and application procedures and speculates on significance of compliance for rural New Mexico school districts (New Mexico has never implemented P.L. 94-142). The five purposes of the paper are to describe major…

This report describes and evaluates the initial effects of the 1984 Texas Education Reform Bill (House Bill 72), in which the Texas legislature enacted a massive attempt to enhance both equity and effectiveness in the State's system of elementary and secondary education. Chapter 1 describes the Bill's various financing components and focuses on…

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 consolidated numerous federal programs into the education block grant and shifted primary administrative responsibility to states. States have to develop a formula to distribute 80 percent of their block grant funds to local education agencies, which have virtually complete discretion in deciding the…

This loose-leaf format handbook is designed to aid vocational teachers, vocational administrators, and others who have responsibility in conducting or administering services to the handicapped and disadvantaged in Alabama under Public Laws 94-142 and 94-482. The information contained in the handbook is compiled from answers to questions on…

An analysis of the procedures states have adopted to distribute federal funds for vocational education under the 1976 Amendments to the Vocational Education Act shows that there is widespread confusion and variation among the states. While the Act specifies that a formula must be used for distribution of funds, the exact criteria for determining…

This draft document presents an analysis of all major educational reform proposals before the Illinois General Assembly, assessing the costs of implementation and what benefits might be expected for the funding levels contained in the proposals themselves. The 18 areas examined are (1) student testing; (2) student retention/remediation; (3)…