On February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law. Passed in response to the 2008 recession, the Act's purpose was to create jobs, pump money into the economy, and encourage spending. Through the Act, states received $1.2 billion in funding for the workforce investment system to provide…

The Biennial Report presents a summary of programs and services provided by the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction for 2007-2009. The State Superintendent notes that while North Dakota's education system is good, slippage in test scores is occurring, cracks in the education system are developing and some students are falling through…

We evaluate the effects of state policy design features on SCHIP take-up rates and on the degree to which SCHIP benefits crowd out private benefits. The results indicate overall program take-up rates of approximately 10 percent. However, there is considerable heterogeneity across states, suggesting a potential role of inter-state variation in…

There has long been controversy in this country about the implementation of school-based sexuality education. In recent years, however, the controversy has centered on abstinence education. Critics of abstinence education programs seem to have three major concerns relative to abstinence education programming: (1) promotion of religion; (2)…

The objective inmate classification system in use in California's prisons is described. Evaluation of 14,091 cases suggests that the system reduces the rate of increase in the incidence of serious prisoner misconduct. Empirical evaluation of the system is recommended, and implications for correctional programs and public policy are discussed. (SLD)

Compares a state program to deal with youth unemployment, the Ontario Career Action Program, with cooperative education programs generally. (Author/IRT)

This report evaluates the bilingual education policy of ten states (Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Texas), in which 86 percent of the nation's limited-English-proficient (LEP) students reside. The report answers frequently-asked questions about bilingual education, and…

This National Council on Disability (NCD) report defines or describes financial incentives affecting people with disabilities and presents research findings in key areas of people's lives, such as education and health care. It also describes selected state-level innovations affecting asset development and wealth accumulation. In addition, the…

The extent to which evaluation and auditing have converged on procedures in recent years and the extent to which they remain different are examined in the five chapters of this special issue. Different emphases, the question of collaboration with the subjects of inquiry, and issues of routinized performance are explored. (SLD)

This process evaluation of the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Project describes the efforts of the project director and 10 regional liaisons to develop a statewide philosophy on prevention and an operational plan for directing resources in Texas toward primary and secondary prevention of child abuse and neglect. A survey was used to gather…

Presented is a study and assessment of the United States Department of Energy State Energy Conservation Program (SECP). The goal of the SECP is to reduce energy consumption in each state by 5% by 1980. However, it is unlikely that this goal will be attained or that the savings reported for 1978 are a valid measure of the program's impact on energy…

Many states have initiated prekindergarten programs to better prepare young children to enter school. A "blueprint for quality" was used as the basis for evaluating state prekindergarten initiatives; the blueprint focused on four components: (1) ensuring the availability of prekindergarten; (2) ensuring high quality prekindergarten; (3)…

Rigorous evaluations of welfare-to-work programs have had a major impact on the formation of policy in the area of welfare reform, but it is not clear whether the high level of evaluation, especially with regard to randomized experiments, and impact can continue. Evaluators must strive for research methodologies that provide results for policy…

This report describes: (1) the nature and extent of states' use of federal funds for new and expanded family preservation and support (FPS) services as authorized by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993; and (2) states' plans to assess the impact of these services on children and their families and impacts identified to date. A nationwide…

A student-centered evaluation of the California Drug, Alcohol, and Tobacco Education (DATE) program shows how a state policy directed toward students at risk influences program directions and affects at-risk and thriving students. Reasons to question the validity of the risk factor model as a prevention tool are discussed. (SLD)