Beginning in 2011, the Department of Education (Education) used its statutory authority to invite states to apply for waivers from certain provisions in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) through its Flexibility initiative. To receive Flexibility waivers, states had to agree to meet other requirements related to college- and…

This article offers an analysis of the origins, evolution, and impact of the Obama administration's Race to the Top (RTTT) competitive grant program and places it in the broader context of the debate over the No Child Left Behind Act and the shifting intergovernmental relations around education. RTTT is fundamentally about two things: creating…

The authors of this memo to President-elect Barack Obama state that many in Congress are now proposing that the federal government intervene to address a range of problems in education by creating new programs and federal subsidies, including public school infrastructure and construction, funding for runaway college tuition costs, and the costs of…

We study how the employment effects of enterprise zones vary with their location, implementation, and administration, based on evidence from California. We use new establishment-level data and geographic mapping methods, coupled with a survey of enterprise zone administrators. Overall, the evidence indicates that enterprise zones do not increase…

This summary evaluation report is designed to (1) give an indication of how the state achieves the goals of Federal programs; (2) increase understanding of various Federal programs; and (3) show the degree of achievement of the goals of the State-Federal Programs Division. The following programs are described: Adult Basic Education; Basic Skills…

Findings from four studies reveal that: administrators enjoy the deregulation of Chapter 2 but are concerned about audits and evaluation; a wide variety of fund distribution formulas exists; expenditures were heavy for computers; and private school participation has increased. (MLF)

Reading First, which has already handed out nearly $5 billion in grants to some 1,700 districts and 5,600 schools, is designed to improve reading instruction in the nation's most disadvantaged schools through the use of research-based methods. However, a report conducted by the investigators for Inspector General John P. Higgins to evaluate…

This document is a transcript of an oversight hearing on the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). This session, the second in a series designed by the House Subcommittee on Employment Opportunities to evaluate the program, focuses on the local and state implementation of the act. Testimony was heard from various representatives of organizations…

This report of a hearing before the House Subcommittee on Employment concerns the implementation of the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). Witnesses addressed concerns about the program's allegedly unspent funds and the proposed funding cuts. Testimony was heard from William E. Brock, Secretary of Labor, and Raymond Flynn, Mayor of Boston,…

The California Department of Education awarded Amnesty Education Program funds to service providers to serve immigrant adults needing to fulfill legalization requirements by obtaining a Certificate of Satisfactory Pursuit, and to make available to immigrant adults education and training that would enable them to succeed in school and become more…

This document is a transcript of an oversight hearing on the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). It is the first in a series designed by the House Subcommittee on Employment Opportunities, Committee on Education and Labor, to evaluate the program. In his introduction, the subcommittee chairman voiced his concern about proposed budget cuts in…

The Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) for fiscal year 1984 provided services to 3 million persons who met income criteria and were judged to be at nutritional risk. Because WIC has to operate within congressional funding levels--$1.36 billion in 1984--only about 1/3 of those eligible can be served. In this…

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…

Reviews the first 50 years of the U.S. Employment Service. Describes the role and functions of the Employment Service and shows how the service could become more relevant during an age of computerized employment service operations involving highspeed electronic communications and retrieval systems. (JAC)

To maximize freedom from personal and political conflicts of interest, decentralized mechanisms of federal program evaluations are needed. Block grants mean that state legislatures and governors will become more responsible for oversight of funds. Three proposals are presented for helping the states deal with these increased evaluation…