Created a developmental scale for the North Carolina End-of-Grade Mathematics Tests using a subset of identical test forms administered to adjacent grade levels with Thurstone scaling and Item Response Theory methods. Discusses differences in patterns produced. (Author/SLD)

Discusses the history of welfare reform and the different approaches used in several states. Describes multiple models that have emerged in community colleges, including short-term training programs, open entry/exit programs or alternative entry dates, classes offered at unconventional times, company-specific programs, case-management strategies,…

Explores the various responses of four first-year English teachers to a state-mandated mentor program in New Jersey and implications for Wisconsin's proposal for a distinct mentor-supported license stage for beginning teachers. Suggests that mentors must appreciate their responsibilities and that school administrators must support the…

Using data from state and academic reports, an independent committee of researchers has evaluated the Massachusetts Teacher Tests. Scores are found to be highly unreliable, and the tests are found to contain questionable content. Suspending use of the tests is recommended. (SLD)

The critique of the Massachusetts Teacher Tests by W. Haney and others points out some flaws in the tests but ignores the fact that the tests provide some useful information to guide teacher selection decisions. Calls for additional study of these teacher evaluation instruments. (SLD)

Contains three articles discussing programs of the National Endowment for the Humanities, furnishing a list of state humanities councils; Institute of Museum and Library Services Library Programs; and U.S. Department of Education Discretionary Library Programs, fiscal year 1997, highlighting the Higher Education Act and the Library Research and…

Discusses higher standards and educational reform in New York schools and considers the growing need for graduates with knowledge and skills to enter the labor market or pursue advanced technical education and training. Describes one Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) program that is being developed to meet these needs. (LRW)

Explains the conflict between the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of Arizona regarding educational organization and funding. Describes Arizona's history of educational reform from 1990 to 1997, the legal and political challenges to reform initiative, and the state of education in 1997. Predicts that the reform issue will not soon be…

Explains trends in 1980s and 1990s and state of Delaware's funding process in 1997, including percentages, dollar amounts, and components of educational system. Describes recently determined goals and state's strategic reform process, including standard-based reform, assessment for accountability, and capacity building. Provides analysis of impact…

Explains South Dakota's Connecting the Schools project that distributed hardware and software for K-12 schools, as well as provided training; developed the Digital Dakota Network (DDN), a high-speed statewide telecommunications network that provides data and video services to educational and governmental communities and helps with network design;…

Describes the resistance of a nontraditional public high school, the Durant School, to the global changes that would destroy its local ecology. In this school, the partially successful fight against the imposition of state standards and mandated tests has been a fight to preserve the school's integrity, mission, and autonomy. (SLD)

Results of a cost-effectiveness analysis of early intervention services in Massachusetts indicate that for a given investment, children demonstrate different levels of improvement in adaptive behavior and child-mother interaction depending on the severity of their disability and the age of entry into intervention. (SLD)

Describes eight multilibrary automation and connectivity initiatives in Alabama that involve public libraries, regional library systems, county library systems, library networks, academic libraries, and public school libraries. Addresses and contact people are supplied for each organization. (LRW)

Claims that increasingly, decisions about whether or how resources will be allocated to young children and families will be made at the state level. Explores the questions answered by the policy document, "Map and Track: State Initiatives for Young Children and Families," and the significance of these questions. Highlights findings and…

Information about the early intervention service systems in 20 states was gathered and organized into dimensions of a framework for describing early intervention systems at the state and local levels. Results indicate considerable variation exists on eligibility criteria, agencies involved in early intervention, and models of intake and service…