This report summarizes some of the recent reports on school building needs and describes the initiatives in New York State's budget designed to address them. It also describes the environment in which school building and maintenance decisions are made, with particular attention to factors discouraging or impeding successful strategies for school…

The perceptions of southern Nevada employers regarding the importance of the Secretary's Commission for Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) workplace basic skills were examined in a survey that was administered to a random sample of southern Nevada businesses. Of the 415 employers who completed the survey, 313 (75.4%) believed that the SCANS skills…

This report analyzes education in Minnesota. After a brief introduction in chapter 1, chapter 2 reviews educational accountability at the national and state levels and the development of Minnesota's own assessment and accountability system. This review not only leads to recommended next steps in that assessment and accountability system, it also…

These four Census Briefs highlight the information from the 2000 U.S. Census most relevant for community leaders, policymakers, advocates, and others concerned with the status of children and families in Rhode Island. The first brief describes home ownership rates, noting that homeowners are less likely to move than renters and become more…

Nearly every state is in fiscal crisis. A slow-growing national economy, a decrease in state tax collections, and a rise in health-care costs are three of the main factors that have created massive budget shortfalls, according to this report. The 2002 edition of this annual survey presents aggregate and individual data on the states' general fund…

This document analyzes a study done by the Center for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC), which examined transfer rates in the VCCS. The document provides definitions for transfer rate, academic performance, and completion rate as they are used in the study. The study answers the following questions: (1) which pool of students were used in the…

At Congressional request, the General Accounting Office examined states choices for providing child care assistance to families and states' proposed changes to child care assistance programs for fiscal year 2004. Information was obtained through a survey of child care administrators of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Findings revealed…

In response to the problem of school dropout, a Las Vegas school district initiated a Dropout Prevention Plan, a multi-strategy approach to reduce the number of students dropping out of school. The approaches used included staff development; after-school programs for students; community outreach; and targeted middle school interventions. It was…

This paper assesses the attitudes of multiple stakeholders toward competencies for public-school leaders in Alabama. It examines the views of various groups in the state's education system--teachers, parents, practitioners, and professors of educational leadership--to determine differences in perceptions regarding the perceived importance of…

After 10 years of development, the California Statewide Automated Child Support System, run by the Department of Social Services (DSS), has been scrapped and the state has begun developing a new child support collection computer. This report evaluates the performance of publicly-funded child support collection programs in California, examining the…

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) was administered in a stratified random sample to South Dakota public schools including Bureau of Indian Affairs schools; private schools were not included. The six priority health-risk behaviors assessed in the YRBS are: (1) intentional and unintentional injuries; (2) tobacco use; (3) alcohol and other drug…

This document presents data on personnel in New Hampshire public libraries in 1998. Libraries are arranged by town in alphabetical order and by the following ranges of population served: 30,001 and over, 18,001-30,000, 12,001-18,000, 9,001=12,000, 6,001-9,000, 3,001-6,000, 1,001-3,000, and under 1,000. The following data are provided for each…

This study analyzes the use of external links on Ohio public library World Wide Web sites, focusing on methods used to facilitate access to Internet resources. The categorization of links was analyzed, with specific focus on the organization, scope, and presentation of links arranged topically. This study suggests that the public libraries of Ohio…

This document examines the progress of Wyoming State Schools. The following areas are brought into consideration in the progress: (1) demographics; (2) federal indicators; (3) technology preparation; (4) CTSO participation; (5) vocational education in schools; and (6) other services. Results for the 2003-2004 school year show that Wyoming students…

Examines number of counselors employed, sources of financial support, professional background, certification, and state standards in the fifty states and four territories. (Author)