The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) builds upon recent state efforts to reinvigorate the commitment of education to prepare students, not just for college and career, but also for citizenship and full participation in democratic life. This report outlines how ESSA strengthens opportunities for states to expand and support civic learning and…

Federal legislation, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504, and the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act, mandates that individuals with disabilities be integrated in all aspects of life from education to employment to independent living. A recent development involves a settlement reached between the United States and the…

Each year, about 4 million children enter kindergarten in the United States. All parents hope their child will start school ready for success, and many parents turn that hope into action, seeking out supportive and high-quality early learning opportunities. Unfortunately, not every parent finds those opportunities, and access differs based on…

Beginning in the mid- to late-1980s, state policymakers began to rethink their strategies for influencing curriculum and instruction in public education and adopted a policy strategy known as standards-based, systemic reform. This issue of "Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) Policy Briefs" examines how standards-based, systemic…

To date, Ohio has not developed a systematic program for ensuring equal educational opportunity. In this paper options available for state policy which would bring about such a program are considered. Information is presented about the legal premises behind desegregation. Legal alternatives to the courts, as well as legal decisions regarding…

In view of controversial reaction to reports of school desegregation in Massachusetts, this paper compiles several documents regarding the overall educational needs of linguistic minority students in Massachusetts. They include the following: (1) Report on Linguistic Minorities and Transitional Bilingual Education (April 1986) by acting…

Thirty-five state plans for the education of homeless children and youth as mandated by the 1987 Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act are reviewed and analyzed in this report. Specifically, the act requires that states designate agency authorization for a child's educational placement, procedures for placement dispute resolution, assurances…

This document is a study of the Massachusetts Department of Education, with recommendations on how the department may better serve the needs of public school students in the Commonwealth. The study examines the department's current internal operations and its performance of external functions, recommends how these operations and functions might be…

America is still a land of opportunity for immigrants from all lands. This is especially true for Florida's Hispanic population. Led by its first Hispanic governor, Florida is setting the pace in helping minorities enter America's mainstream. (Author/BJV)

This monograph summarizes the activities of state affiliates of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) in the first two years of a three-year project on institutional capacity building for Public Law (PL) 94-142, which concerns equal education for all handicapped students. The goals of the project were: (1) to raise…

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 implications of the "Serrano-type" court cases are slowly making an impact on State school finance structures. Nearly every State has just completed or is undertaking a study of public school finance problems. Although the impetus for change is coming from the courts, the real work is being accomplished by the governors, legislators, and staff…

Intended to aid the personnel hired by the states to coordinate and supervise their sex equity efforts in vocational education, this handbook contains brief descriptions of what fifteen states (which were chosen to participate in a workshop on the development of action models to eliminate sex stereotyping from vocational education) have done, and…

These three essays are intended to provide an overview of southern efforts to help increased numbers of young persons make a successful transition from school to work with a future. The first paper, "Smoothing the Path from School to Work: A Promising Venture in Structural Change in a Southern State," by Peter B. Edelman and Myrtis H.…

America's future lies in the growing number of minority group children. Past failure to educate minority children bodes ill for America's ability to compete economically. Our future depends on fully educating these youth and ensuring that minorities are fully represented in our corps of teachers, professors, and professionals. (Author/BJV)