The Obama administration has offered states the chance to waive some requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. States are required, however, to make specific reforms in exchange for increased flexibility. The administration has been clear it wants states to engage in "ambitious but achievable" reforms rather than merely asking for a pass from…

The paper discusses the major issues connected with the accreditation procedures in higher education system in the U.S. The questions raised are as follows: what are the reliable and credible indicators of quality instruction that could be measured in the process of accreditation of higher education institutions? How does greater transparency in…

This paper presents (1) a review of national policy guidelines for the evaluation of vocational education; (2) a description and analysis of the typical responses of state and local agencies of evaluation requirements; (3) some evaluation issues that may be applicable to vocational education evaluation; and (4) suggestions for improving vocational…

Evidence is mounting that federal employees and their agents may have directed or even pressured states to choose specific assessments, consultants, and the criteria for evaluating core reading programs as conditions for getting funding under the Reading First initiative, possibly in violation of federal law. "Education Week" found such…

The conclusions of the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) concerning the effects of consolidating federal categorical aid programs into block grant programs are presented in this report. The block grants reviewed were established before 1981 under the Partnership for Health Act, the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, the Comprehensive…

Observations and recommendations of the National Advisory Council on Vocational Education (NACVE) are presented based on its participation in a series of management evaluation reviews designed to assess the degree of state compliance with the requirements of current law, P.L. 90-576 (the Vocational Education Amendments of 1968). Section 1 reviews…

State and local education agencies increasingly have to spend a larger percentage of their time collecting, aggregating, and reporting information to federal agencies. This report suggests that the federal evaluation strategy to describe program implementation as well as impact is usually ill considered, inappropriate and of questionable utility.…

This report presents an evaluation of the Federal Interagency Day Care Requirements (FIDCR) conducted by the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The evaluation focuses on the appropriateness of the requirements for federally supported day care programs authorized by Title XX of the Social Security Act. The first chapter of the report…

During calendar year 1994, the U.S. Department of Education published significant revisions to the Education Department General Administrative Regulations (EDGAR). These regulatory changes addressed the noncompeting continuation (NCC) application process for discretionary grants and cooperative agreements, the Department's implementation of the…

This study is an initial attempt by the National Advisory Council on Adult Education to review the program and administration effectiveness of the Adult Education Act (program effectiveness in terms of the impact of the program on people's lives, using existing statistical data; administration effectiveness using five basic management functions…

This report assesses the impact of federal child health policy under Titles V and XIX of the Social Security Act upon the states of Connecticut and Vermont for the years 1935 to 1975, and analyzes the reasons for the discrepancy between policy intent and state execution. Two simultaneous approaches are used for data analysis: a cross sectional…

This report was developed as a result of a study that was conducted to identify and describe evaluation programs in vocational technical education at the national level, within the state of Wisconsin, and within selected local school districts in Wisconsin. The first of five chapters reviews the procedures used to synthesize evaluation programs.…

Reviews factors affecting the implementation of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act's Chapter 2 provisions in South Carolina, including demographic changes, recent state educational legislation, and characteristics of Chapter 2. Analyzes the impact of Chapter 2 in 10 districts. (PGD)

Quality Control (QC) regulations for the following federal entitlement programs are discussed: Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income Program, and Food Stamp Program. Implications of these QC procedures and for the Department of Education's approach to QC regulations are also considered. Each set of…

As part of an evaluation of the existing Federal Interagency Day Care Requirements (FIDCR), this paper reviews the current regulations and presents recommendations for modifications in the requirements as they relate to group or family day care services for school age children from 5 to 14 years of age. The paper is divided into five major…