The latest installment of the Fordham Institute's "Creating Sound Policy for Digital Learning" series investigates one of the more controversial aspects of digital learning: How much does it cost? In this paper, the Parthenon Group uses interviews with more than fifty vendors and online-schooling experts to estimate today's average…

Will the digital-learning movement repeat the mistakes of the charter-school movement? How much more successful might today's charter universe look if yesterday's proponents had focused on the policies and practices needed to ensure its quality, freedom, and resources over the long term? What mistakes might have been avoided? Damaging scandals…

Due to the changes in disability legislation that protect persons with disabilities from discrimination, and allow for free, appropriate public education along with equal access to education, more and more students with disabilities are choosing to attend postsecondary educational settings. The transition planning process as outlined in the…

This project is an attempt at a statewide collection of baseline information on guidance counselors and the services being offered by those counselors in the school districts of Pennsylvania. Data were collected on: (1) counselors; (2) guidance program characteristics as described by counselors; and (3) the various publics being served by the…

Guidance Services Position Statement was prepared in response to a need expressed by people engaged either in developing school guidance activities or in expanding and improving such activities. The intent was to provide a guide or a framework upon which a guidance program might be constructed or made more effective. Five major sections focus on:…

For most of its history, Pennsylvania's public school system has consisted of three levels: the state level, the local school districts, and an intermediate level. In 1970, the intermediate level was reorganized into 29 intermediate units (IUs). In 1997 the state's General Assembly directed the Joint State Government Commission to study how the…

A study of the performance pattern of 1,000 elementary school children in Philadelphia was conducted to determine: (a) whether the inclusive Title I program was having a significant impact on reading achievement, and (b) whether the specific intervention models were producing significant changes in the performance rates of their respective groups.…

The Edison Project, funded under Title VIII of the 1965 Elementary Secondary Education Act, has as its major objectives the reduction of the dropout rate, the increasing of the average daily attendance, the improvement of basic skills, and the development of career awareness. The project has been established as an annex to Edison High School, an…

This report describes the background and results of a project to establish a school-based job placement service in the Columbia-Montour Area Vocational-Technical School in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. The center's activities, based on a previously-developed model, included these components: (1) Cooperative job development with the Bureau of…

In early 1972, the Pennsylvania State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights turned its attention to the growing Puerto Rican population in Philadelphia, a population estimated to be anywhere from 30,000 to 125,000. A two-day open meeting or informal hearing was held on June 6 and 7, 1972, to look at two major problem areas for…

The job title, "Home and School Visitor/School Social Worker" (HSV/SSW), suggests an ambiguous and unclear job role requiring a diversity of skills and a wide variety of educational credentials. HSV/SSW personnel (N=271) were surveyed to develop an accurate picture of the HSV/SSW as he/she exists in Pennsylvania today. Survey results…

This study evaluated the cost effectiveness of Instructional Support Teams (IST) in Pennsylvania, by comparing IST costs to those of traditional special education programs. An introduction notes pressures for change and the objectives of the prereferral intervention utilized in the IST approach. The study compared costs and program effectiveness…

Overbrook School for the Blind (OSB), a specialized school serving students with blindness and visual impairment, has provided, since the early 1990s, paid summer work experiences as part of the school's Work Experience Program. In this article, the authors discuss how OSB has strengthened its original program as a result of the Workforce…

This guide was designed to help elementary school faculties begin a cycle of evaluation, revision, implementation, and change which can coincide with other evaluation cycles, such as Educational Quality Assessment (EQA) testing or longrange planning, if desired. The processes described in the general procedures section are suggestions; situation.…