This book is the fourth of four volumes in a directory of more than 1,000 discretionary grants and contracts supported by the Research to Practice Division of the Office of Special Education Programs. This volume focuses on projects concerned with technical assistance, dissemination, parent information, and state improvement. The Technical…

Because of an increasingly challenging fiscal climate, state lawmakers are faced with making tough financial decisions regarding their early childhood systems. This document describes and examines various funding sources used when making decisions about possible early childhood initiatives combined with policy choices that may be considered in…

Building on a pledge to support the state's job growth and successful transitions from welfare to work, the governor of Maryland issued an executive order in 1998 to establish the Maryland Child Care Business Partnership (MCCBP). This partnership, comprised of 23 members representing business, labor, state and local government, and the child care…

The topic of high-stakes testing (HST) is important because HST has direct and indirect effects on career-technical education (CTE) programs and timely because HST increasingly enters public discussion and has produced a large body of research and practice that generalizes to CTE. A review of HST has identified two persisting dilemmas: policy and…

This document comprises the 12 issues for 2001 of the "Child Support Report," which explores problems related to child support enforcement, reports on federal and state government child support enforcement initiatives, and summarizes research related to child support. Featured regularly are editorials and information on events of…

This report reviews in detail the accomplishments of the third year of the 1999-2002 contract of the Outreach and Technical Assistance Network (OTAN). It describes and quantifies the services--electronic collaboration, access to information services, and research, development, and assistance in using technology--provided by the entire three-year…

This annual report combines the November, January, April, June, and August provincial results in diploma examination courses in Alberta, Canada. The graphs, tables, and text describe student performance for the entire school year. The report is designed to assist school personnel in identifying patterns of student achievement in Alberta and…

This paper reports on an ongoing effort of the Vermont Mental Health Performance Indicator Project (PIP) to examine the relevance and utility of standardized test scores for evaluating community mental health programs. This analysis is of test scores from Vermont's first four years of statewide testing. The study is examining anonymous…

This study was designed to document the processes and dynamics of two multidisciplinary teams under the Access Vermont program, which provides services for children and youth with serious emotional disabilities and their families. In both cases, local interagency teams in the largely rural catchment areas developed plans for an initiative focused…

Recognizing the critical role that quality child care plays in the lives of working families, in children's health and development, and in the state economy, the Alaska Child Care Program promotes quality, affordable, and accessible child care for Alaska's children and families that allows parents to work or train for employment, and that supports…

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), offers the most comprehensive picture available of the education system in the United States. The aim of this study is to show the potential value of a linkage between SASS and data on student academic achievement. To achieve this aim, the…

The primary objective of this study was to investigate overall patterns of gender differences and similarities of test performance in mathematics. To achieve that objective, observed test scores on the Delaware standards-based assessment were analyzed to examine: (1) gender differences and similarities across grades 3, 5, 8 and 10 over 2 years;…

This implementation guide for Career Pathways (an Ohio educational plan linking academic, technological, and occupational course work and other educational experiences, leading to a career specialty) is a resource for leaders planning and implementing career pathways in vocational education planning districts and school districts. The document…

Under the direction and leadership of the Alabama Department of Postsecondary Education and the Alabama Department of Education, Workforce 21 was created as a response to the lack of skilled workers necessary to fill high-skill, high-wage jobs of the 21st century. More than 600 Alabamians representing industry, labor, parents, students,…

Since 1993, the Delaware Department of Correction has offered a Life Skills Program in its four state prisons. Each year, as many as 300 inmates (of the 5,000 housed inmates) enroll in the program, and nearly 85 percent of them graduate. The 4-month program has three major components: academics, violence reduction, and applied life skills. The…