State education agencies are in increasing agreement regarding the basic principles that should underlie state educational assessment programs, though some areas of divergent opinion remain. The agencies generally accept the ideas that comparisons between states will be made, that assessment programs should serve multiple purposes, that meaningful…

Discusses the findings of a subcommittee of the American Vocational Association which examined the current information about 12-month programs of vocational agriculture. Surveyed state supervisors to determine what types of help and support were available from the state level. Discusses planning aids used in establishing and planning summer…

Analyzes how 13 state education agencies (SEAs) use instrumental strategic and symbolic decisions and structures in attempting to provide leadership for improvements in educational quality. Data suggest that as the difficulties facing them increase, SEAs rely more on the strategic and symbolic dimensions of structure for their own protection. (CMG)

This document presents the Virginia Department of Education's plan to develop and implement pilot programs in six localities for the 1992-94 biennium (prior to statewide implementation in 1994) for the delivery of special education to juveniles in local jails. The plan is community based, with local school division administrators and jail…

Federal legislation requires that all handicapped children be afforded an appropriate and individualized physical education program. The state education agency of Montana, however, has not assumed this responsibility, and unqualified special education classroom teachers and regular physical education teachers are reluctantly charged by local…

Suggests that guidelines serve as a model of "good practice" for program development and professional practice on the federal, state, and local level. Principal objective is to inform policy makers and decision makers of the major characteristics of comprehensive services. Includes recommendations regarding practice issues, and outlines…

Federal education policy preferences of the Reagan Administration include both procedural and substantive elements. The overarching procedural policy is devolution--the transfer of the authority and responsibility for education policy and program development from the federal to state and local levels. Federal activities intended to advance…

This presentation identifies factors which contributed to the rise of gifted/talented education programs in California from 1960 to 1987, factors contributing to the demise of such programs, and recommendations for improving the California Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) Program. Recent years have brought about a lessening of the program's…

Seventeen articles used to convey the South Carolina advisory council's 1977-78 evaluation of vocational and technical education in South Carolina are presented. Articles included are "The Girl Stared"; "A Solution to Discipline--Education's Number One Problem"; "A Vocational Education Success Story"; "TEC…

The Hawaii State Department of Education offers a growing number of Hawaiian language immersion schools for its students. The article presents the history of immersion schools in Hawaii, examining criticisms of immersion schools, discussing their benefits, and explaining necessary components for success. (SM)