The federal role in higher education has grown over the past two decades, and now a new administration has the opportunity to strengthen policies that support students and their colleges and universities. To help inform these decisions, the Urban Institute convened a bipartisan group of scholars and policy advisers to write a series of memos…

This hearing of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions examines fixing No Child Left Behind, focusing on supporting teachers and school leaders. Following an opening statement by Honorable Lamar Alexander (Chairman, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions), the following senators provide statements: (1) Honorable Patty…

When the bell rings at the end of a school day, millions of children are left to their own devices while they wait for their families to return home at the end of the work day. Findings from a study conducted by the Afterschool Alliance, "America After 3PM," show that 15.1 million children are unsupervised when the school day ends. The…

Advanced Placement (AP), which enables high school students to take introductory college-level courses, is the nation's oldest example of a rigorous, common curriculum. Students who score well on AP exams are more likely to persist in college and earn a degree. The Advanced Placement Expansion project of the National Governors Association Center…

The demand for workers (employers, self-employed people and employees) having research training extends beyond the researcher workforce itself and is increasing. The research workforce is not uniform but segmented according to disciplines and the economic and sectoral contexts in which researchers work. The growth of cross-disciplinary and…

Prisons are increasingly being filled with inmates who suffer from mental illness. This paper examines the prevalence of mental illness in American jails and prisons, the duty government and society has to provide appropriate mental health treatment, and the implications for inmate safety, costs, recidivism, and community reintegration if…

Reviews three roles of the federal government that are accepted as essential tasks of federal leadership: (1) leadership in the process of democratization, (2) employment, and (3) readiness to rely on vocational education in periods of emergency. Suggests improving vocational education by rethinking the federal role. (LRA)

Evaluates the success of efforts to federally legislate knowledge utilization in Hawaii. Programs in the fields of agriculture, energy, and education are described; examples of federally supported knowledge utilization strategies in the United States are given; and areas where improvement is needed are suggested, including timeliness,…

Three factors that contribute to the relevancy of vocational agriculture programs are modern agriculture curricula, fully developed programs, and competent personnel. (LRA)

Recognizes that the need for vocational education improvement was partially satisfied through legislative mandate. Suggests that states should be given more authority to determine how goals, objectives, and activities will be accomplished. (JOW)

As contracts to operate ERIC clearinghouses come up for recompetition in 1992, readers are invited to provide input to the Office of Educational Research and Improvement covering ways the ERIC Clearinghouse on Tests, Measurement, and Evaluation and the entire ERIC system can better serve the educational community. (SLD)

Reviews vocational education's role in private-sector retraining programs, reducing unemployment, attracting new industries, and developing human resources. Briefly discusses recent federal initiatives toward economic development and their relationship to vocational education. (LRA)

A hearing was convened to investigate health care issues affecting children. Witnesses provided information about the way in which the health care system meets the needs of children in the United States. Components of the system include Medicaid for low-income children, the Maternal and Child Health block grant program, employer-sponsored health…

Since the passage of the National Apprenticeship Act in 1937 apprenticeship has remained a totally voluntary program, the costs of which are covered by the program sponsor (either an employer, a joint labor-employer sponsor, or a government agency). As of 1988, there were about 325,000 apprentices in training and another 55,000 in the armed…