The human brain develops rapidly in the first five years of life. High-quality early learning experiences can have a profound and lasting positive effect on young children during these years, setting the stage for success in kindergarten and beyond. This is especially true for young children with high needs who are from low-income families; who…

The purpose of the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) program is to improve the quality of early learning and development and close the achievement gap for children with high needs. The RTT-ELC grant competition focuses on improving early learning and development for young children by supporting States' efforts to increase the…

The prospect of providing complete services to pupils commensurate with their needs offers tremendous challenge for both educators and parents. PL 94-142 is attempting "to assure that all handicapped children have available to them...a free appropriate public education and related services designed to meet their unique needs". (Author/RK)

In response to the demands of the changing economy and the business community's need for better-educated, more highly skilled workers, the U.S. Department of Education, through the Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), developed the State Scholars Initiative (SSI), which encourages students to take a rigorous course of study in high…

Four key topics in the implementation of Title II legislation are reviewed: (1) the Congressional intent of the Basic Skills Improvement Program (BSIP) and its two major focuses--demonstration and coordination; (2) what is meant by "basic skills"; (3) expected outcomes for the BSIP; and (4) standards for demonstration projects. Congress…

Discussed the Office of Education's new initiatives being added to its Right to Read Program in its continuing effort to eliminate illiteracy, assist those with severe reading problems, and prevent new cases of reading deficiencies from developing. (Author/RK)

Environmental and outdoor education projects organized under Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 are described. This 1967 National listing provides information by state, such as title, director, project synopsis, number of school districts served, area coverage, total population figures, and student population figures.…

In U.S. K-12 public education, incentive pay for educators remains firmly fixed as a high-interest policy topic and has recently become a popular reform initiative in many school systems. The Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF), created in 2006 by the U.S. Department of Education, is at the forefront of this policy movement and has provided hundreds of…

In an attempt to increase the usefulness of future National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) findings, yet retain the usefulness of past assessments, a framework for the conduct of assessments is presented. This framework is supported by agreement on three major goals, by overall methods for reaching those goals, and by firm concepts of…

Separate evaluations of three Title VII bilingual education programs carried out in elementary and junior high schools in Brooklyn, New York, are presented in this report. The programs are S.U.B.E. (Success Under Spanish Bilingual Education); AVANTI (an approach to Italian bilingual education); and HABILE (Haitian Bilingual Education), which…

This report, developed pursuant to Title X, Section 1001 (d), of the National Defense Education Act of 1958, is organized in three parts. Part I is an account of the nature, scope, and volume of federally sponsored programs in colleges and universities of the United States and the institutions which participate in them. This description is…

"The Achiever" is a monthly publication for parents and community leaders. Each issue contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. Highlights of this issue include: (1) "No Child Left Behind": Key Focus in State of the Union; (2) A Shining Example: Using Mix of Strategies, Stanton Elementary…

"Alabama Education News" is published monthly except for June, July, and December by the Alabama Department of Education. This publication, authorized by Section 16-2-4 of the "Code of Alabama", as recompiled in 1975, is a public service of the Alabama Department of Education designed to inform citizens and educators about…

America's Promise Alliance recommends that all sectors of society work together to ensure all young people have a 21st century education in which service-learning and civic involvement are components. This policy/practice brief explores service-learning as a place-based family-strengthening strategy that develops the capacity of youth as a core…

This monograph describes each of the 11 programs of the Navajo tribe's comprehensive educational plan. It is the Navajo Division of Education's (NDOE) belief that all of these programs will have to be conducted on the Navajo Nation for many years to come; they believe these educational programs are the solution for eradication, or at least…