"Policy and Performance in American Higher Education" presents a new approach to understanding how public policy influences institutional performance, with practical insight for those charged with crafting and implementing higher education policy. Public institutions of higher learning are called upon by state governments to provide…

Asserting that escalating violence against and by children and adolescents is the manifestation of a range of serious and long neglected problems, this report examines the contribution of deadly firearms to the prevalence of violence in American communities, presents statistics on national trends, and describes state actions. Following an…

Examined current regulations for Family Child Care Homes in the United States and the extent to which the regulations changed between 1981 and 1998. Found progress in number of states with some regulations for large and small facilities, but also an increase in percentage of states that allow exemptions from regulation. (SD)

Alternative schools have emerged over the years as one educational option for students who are not successful in traditional school settings. The number of these schools is growing rapidly, yet we know very little about similarities in policy and practice across states. This report provides a list and review of current state legislation and policy…

The impact of California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKS), which was passed to increase California welfare recipients' participation in welfare-to-work (WTW) activities, was examined. The impact study consisted of a nonexperimental program evaluation that used statistical models to estimate causal effects and a simulation…

The standards set in teacher-certification requirements, and the effectiveness of the administration of certification, have been intimately related to the advancement of public education. The major portions of previous reports from the Office of Education were devoted to the presentation of the detailed requirements for obtaining the different…