Describes a cooperative program between individual state governments and the Australian government whereby unemployed people who want to start a small business are given a comprehensive package consisting of loan capital, one year's living allowance, training, and business advice. (JOW)

An update on the National School Lunch Program includes a list of some of the changes and innovations in types, quality, and packaging of commodity products provided to schools. (MLF)

Urban regeneration programs fail because they are largely short term, trickle-down does not work, different policy areas are not coordinated, community partnership involves tokenism, they are not targeted where most needed, and government funding is given with one hand while being taken away with the other. (SK)

Drawing on a realistic model for evaluating compensatory education effects, Chapter 1 staff members have developed a workshop series aimed at improving the effectiveness of local Chapter 1 programs. Improvement efforts are to be data driven, research based, team centered, locally controlled, systematic, and focused on student outcomes. (20…

Federal data on student-loan defaults in colleges, universities, and vocational-technical schools include number and proportion of borrowers in default on Stafford Loans and Supplemental Loans in fiscal 1988 and 1989. The data are used to exclude high-default institutions from federal programs. Dollar amounts of loans defaulted are not presented.…

Describes the approach of Southern Maine Technical College (SMTC) in managing required federal student loan entrance and exit interviews. SMTC offers group interviews each time the student borrows, and has also increased student attendance rates at exit interviews to 94% by adding incentives such as prizes underwritten by willing sponsors. (DB)

Describes efforts of the federally-funded TRIO Student Support Services program at Kankakee Community College in Illinois. The program helps simplify the educational process for low-income, first-generation, or disabled college students. Describes how the program helps students through encouraging career clarity, intensive academic planning,…

A program designed to provide student aid has spun out of control, becoming a cash cow for colleges and universities. The Department of Education has not adequately controlled the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP), according to a recent report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Originally, traditional lending institutions…

This article reports that Republican and Democratic leaders of the U.S. Senate education committee have joined the debate over the implementation of Reading First, with a call for an investigation into the federal program by the watchdog arm of Congress. The request to the Government Accountability Office follows allegations that federal officials…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB), landmark legislation passed in 2002, has reframed the federal role in setting educational policy. This brief provides an overview of NCLB, how it impacts teaching and learning, a glimpse into its potential reauthorization, and a summary of how Schools Attuned can fit into this policy context.

As Congress considers reauthorization of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), schools again stand at the center of the accountability movement. Most states have spent significant time, energy, and resources to develop accountability systems that explicitly define what students are expected to learn at each grade level and how this learning will be…

As President Bush nears the end of his tenure, his administration is putting its final stamp on the No Child Left Behind Act and trying to lay the groundwork for the law's future. This article reports on the latest effort of President Bush's administration that will allow as many as 10 states to create alternative interventions for schools that…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) performance mandates, embedded within state accountability systems, focus school AYP (adequate yearly progress) compliance squarely on the percentage of students at or above proficient. The singular importance of this quantity for decision-making purposes has initiated extensive research into percent proficient as a…

This study examined the relationship between the implementation of No Child Left Behind and the achievement gap between African American and white students' eighth-grade math scores on the yearly-standardized test (Criterion Referenced Competency Test--CRCT) in Georgia. A descriptive research design was utilized to examine data obtained from the…

By late 2008, the United States was in the midst of its most severe economic recession since the 1930s, brought on by a collapse in real estate prices and exacerbated by the failure of many large banks and financial institutions. Heeding calls from economists, Congress and the Obama administration passed a historic law in early 2009 to stimulate…