This informational booklet contains background materials regarding the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) initiative to redesign its monitoring system. The booklet is intended to expand the knowledge and understanding of those individuals selected to participate in the RSA-sponsored monitoring conference that was held August 24 and 25,…

The achiever is published monthly during the school year for parents and community leaders. Each issue contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. The following articles are contained in this issue: (1) Spellings Focuses on English Language Learners; (2) Around the Country--Maryland and Oregon; (3) Calendar; (4)…

Recent federal mandates require accountability for providing students with disabilities access to the general education curriculum. In this paper, the authors recommend that teacher educator for the new majority consider how the principles of Universal Design for Learning and Differentiated Instruction can help school personnel tailor their…

In the continuing effort to raise the academic performance of public schools, improving teacher retention could be an important strategy for California. Keeping new teachers in the classroom could improve academic performance, because experienced teachers are, on average, more effective at raising student test scores. Better retention of teachers…

Equity in faculty salaries has always been a controversial issue facing institutions of higher education. As a bastion of academic freedom where faculty and students purse knowledge, it is almost anti-intellectual to find a gender gap in salaries. More importantly, there are laws, which ensure gender equity in salaries. Thus, salary equity has…

This is one of three documents constituting the mandated Interim Report on the National Assessment of Title I. This Executive Summary describes the studies that comprise the National Assessment of Title I and provides executive summaries of the findings of Volumes I and II. Volume I, Implementation of Title I, focuses on implementation of key…

This study investigated the relationship between the scales used for the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Tests (PACT) assessments and the RIT scales used to report performance on Northwest Evaluation Association tests. The RIT scale was developed using Rasch scaling methodologies. RIT-based tests are used to inform a variety of educational…

This document consists of the 2002-2003 issues of a quarterly newsletter intended to communicate the major developments within each sector of the child and youth indicators field. The newsletters feature regular sections on the community, state, and national scenes, and include sections of resources and data. The Summer 2002 issue includes…

A study assessed Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) implementation and effects in Cuyahoga County between 1992-2000. It used field research, surveys and interviews of current and former welfare recipients, state and county welfare and employment records, and indicators of social and economic trends. Findings indicated Cuyahoga County…

This paper is part of a collection of 54 papers from the 48th annual conference of the Education Law Association held in November 2002. It discusses the role that states' constitutional mandates play in education finance. It examines why, when one of the few constitutionally shared responsibilities of all 50 states is the provision of education,…

This document comprises the 12 issues for 2002 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 interest and…

This booklet is designed to help Minnesota parents of young children with disabilities to find services to assist them and to help their children learn and grow. It begins by stressing the importance of parent advocacy for children with disabilities. Following sections address: (1) federal requirements for early intervention for children with…

To assess the current connections between the Unemployment Insurance (UI) and One-Stop (OS) systems, case studies were conducted of eight states and eight local areas. Findings indicated the major factor that influenced UI's role in the OS design was whether the state took initial claims by telephone or in-person; UI played differing roles in…

This study evaluated equal educational opportunities available to Maine's language minority students, using information from four 1997 fact-finding meetings that included representatives from the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights, local school superintendents, English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers and professionals,…

This lesson guide argues that the focus of the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) classroom should include all of the following: learning English, acquiring workplace skills, and developing a cross-cultural awareness. The renewed emphasis on employment-related ESL has created a growing interest in the competencies of the SCANS (Secretary's…