State Medicaid expenditures for Intermediate Care Facilities for the Mentally Retarded (ICF-MR) increased sharply between 1980 and 1984. The ICF-MR bed capacity declined relative to the total state population, while numbers of ICF-MR Medicaid recipients increased. Trends among states are examined, emphasizing changes in demographic factors,…

A review of the status and activities of foreign language instruction in Florida elementary schools discusses languages taught (primarily Spanish); state funding and school district programs; teacher certification; and preservice teacher education and methods courses. (CB)

Describes the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching, a state-supported program designed to reward and renew intellectually exemplary public school teachers in North Carolina (offering in-residence learning opportunities for teachers at all grade levels). Recommendations are provided for states or districts considering establishing…

Analyzes state performance incentive programs in California, South Carolina, and Wisconsin. Findings suggest that incentive programs vary in effectiveness, indicating that program design is critical to success, and that most of the programs do not have high monetary costs. (FMW)

Provides an overview of Australia's early childhood education and care in the late 1980s. Topics include provision of services; state government responsibilities; caregiver pay, status, and training; and future trends and issues. (RJC)

Describes Tennessee's response to the educational reform movement. Discusses the Comprehensive Education Reform Act of 1984 (CERA) which instituted Tennessee's Career Ladder Program. Provides an evaluation, and identifies strengths and weaknesses of the the Tennessee Arts Academy which grew out of CERA. Concludes that the Tennessee Arts Academy is…

Highlights some of the major challenges state policymakers in the fields of aging and developmental disabilities will face in the years ahead and pinpoints specific areas in which closer collaboration between the two fields might prove to be mutually beneficial. (ABL)

Reviews the adoption of a three-part program for statewide library automation and the appointment of planning committees by the Board of Regents of the New York State Department of Education. The discussion addresses the recommendations of the committees covering general issues, databases, linking, training and consulting, and operational…

Interpretation, assimilation, and adjustment to the Utah Career Ladder Program and the extent to which these responses reflect fundamental changes in the structure of teacher work were assessed. Promotional positions and differentiated salaries--distinctive features of a career ladder--were being compromised at all levels of the system. (SLD)

Examines the role of state health department dental offices as linking agents in the diffusion of an effective preventive health program, the fluoride mouthrinse program, in public schools. (JOW)

Reviews the past progress and outcomes of the educational reform movement at the state level and outlines strategies for the second wave of reform. Contends that the future of education reform depends primarily on the growth of the American economy and how this growth is distributed among the states. (TE)

Describes features of the federal-state Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS) Program for teenage parents. JOBS Program strategies focus on teenage parent identification, financial incentives, enriched educational services, strong case management, networks with community agencies, and a commitment to responsibility by teenage parents.…

Outlines the Colorado vision for student information literacy and discusses its implications for other states and communities as part of a national effort considering the future of library media programs. Highlights include Colorado information literacy guidelines, statewide training, assessment measures, research programs, and future scenarios.…

The Arizona Elementary Foreign Language Task Force's response to a state mandate requiring foreign-language instruction in all elementary schools is described. After a review of curricular and personnel resource needs, Northern Arizona University's teacher-training model is summarized. (Contains 29 references.) (Author/LB)

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will not ask the Supreme Court to review a lower court's decision to exempt the Michigan Education Trust from federal income taxes. The state college tuition prepayment plan was discontinued in 1991 due to legal challenges but promised to honor its commitments to 55,000 participants. The program may now be…