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…

In April 2007, Federal No Child Left Behind regulations were finalized that provided states with additional flexibility for assessing some students with disabilities. The regulations allowed states to offer another assessment option, alternate assessments based on modified academic achievement standards (AA-MAS). States are not required to have…

The Biennial Report presents a summary of programs and services provided by the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction for 2007-2009. The State Superintendent notes that while North Dakota's education system is good, slippage in test scores is occurring, cracks in the education system are developing and some students are falling through…

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…

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…

This publication consists of descriptive reports of 183 projects funded by Title III of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act from 1966 to 1968, submitted by the directors of those projects conducted by local educational agencies in California. The reports are reproduced as submitted. The report for each project includes: designation of the…

Numerous innovative educational techniques and programs for children in a rural setting are presented, along with a suggested strategy for change in rural schools. Chapter 1 defines the role of rural education within the perspective of the prime goal of education in America: to provide equal opportunities for all to share in America's wealth.…

"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…

Three papers in this book place the current movement of accountability and State assessment in perspective and point to the emergence of a different set of "arrangements" for education than those normally accepted by Americans and a different way of framing goals for education. In the first paper, Miriam Clasby draws attention to the intended and…

This report contains the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Program and Cost Effectiveness to the California State Board of Education. The committee was established by the California legislature for the purpose of developing a methodology for evaluating the cost effectiveness of various Federal and State educational projects. The report…

In New York State, strengthening of its evaluation of educational provision was started with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title III; review and training sessions, paid for out of Title III funds, were provided over a three-month period ending in February 1969 for evaluators from the 16 regional centers. This report on educational…

The collection of six papers offers perspectives on planning and implementing career education programs. The first paper, the Introduction (David Goodwin), deals with program implementation. The second paper, Priorities in Career Education (Alonzo A. Crim), describes the historical origins of career education in the Atlanta school system with a…

To complement the information gathered on middle school and high school literacy initiatives as reported in "Middle and High School Literacy across the Curriculum" (Task 1.2 Fast Response Project), the Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast (REL-SE) staff conducted a scan of the six southeast states to gather the following information…

The National Education Goals Report serves as a barometer of the nation's progress toward the national education goals defined in early 1990. This year's report, sixth in a series of annual reports planned through the year 2000, focuses on standards and assessments, two areas of educational reform which are currently of interest to state and local…