The purpose of this study was to determine if persons who were age 65 or older and who participated in vocational rehabilitation programs funded by the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) experienced an increase in earnings from paid employment at the conclusion of services. Preservice and postservice earnings for 9,787 consumers of RSA…

In this article, the author provides updates on the various programs of the United States Department of Education. Among others, the Office of Correctional Education is sponsoring training sessions dealing with the utilization of post release outcome data to evaluate institutionally based educational services. Also, a few weeks after the upcoming…

How well a particular industry fares during any given time has an impact on countless other industries and consumers. Case in point--rising gas prices are affecting everything from airfares to the price of getting a pizza delivered. This article describes a similar situation that is happening with the wave of home foreclosures as the subprime…

For 20 years, Advocates for Children of New Jersey has published the Newark Kids Count Data Book, a one-stop source for child well-being data on our state's largest city. Newark Kids Count includes the latest statistics, along with five-year trend data, in the following areas: demographics, family economic security, food insecurity, child health,…

This report on a statewide telephone survey describes child care use in Minnesota among households with children 12 and younger. Minnesota has an estimated 908,000 children ages 12 and younger; 24 percent are ages 0 to 2, 24 percent ages 3 to 5, 30 percent ages 6 to 9 and 23 percent ages 10 to 12. Of the nearly 500,000 households with one or more…

Obesity, poor health, and limited physical activity are major health concerns. The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) improves the health and well-being of limited resource families and youth. Additionally, EFNEP leads to public savings. Research shows that better health is associated with reduced health care costs, less…

A local concern has been the effectiveness of school improvement efforts such as professional learning communities (PLCs) on student achievement. The results of this study are necessary as policy makers, school districts, administrators, and teachers aim to increase student achievement and the effectiveness of PLCs. The purpose of this study was…

The Obama administration's Race to the Top (RTT) competitive grant program has been heralded for revolutionizing the federal role in education and transforming state school reform efforts. This paper offers an initial analysis of the origins, evolution, and impact of RTT. In many ways, RTT is an attempt to circumvent the perceived failings of No…

This report responds to two mandates for GAO under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). First, it is the latest report on the uses of and accountability for Recovery Act funds in selected states and localities. Second, it comments on recipients' reports of the jobs created and retained. The Recovery Act provided $2.1…

The Obama Administration has signaled that it will include a $1.35 billion expansion of the "Race to the Top" (RTTT) fund in its FY 2011 budget. This is in addition to the $4.35 billion for RTTT included in last year's stimulus bill. Under the Department of Education's (DOE) guidelines for RTTT, states must meet certain requirements to…

Merit pay programs for educators--sometimes referred to a "pay for performance"--attempt to tie a teacher's compensation to his/her performance in the classroom. While the idea of merit pay for classroom teachers has been around for several decades, only now is it starting to be implemented in a growing number of districts around the…

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation created the Early College High School Initiative in 2002, opening more than 200 hundred early college programs across the nation and every year a new report is created to evaluate the progress of the program (Berger, Adelman, & Cole, 2010). Staff at the Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast (REL-SE)…

The U.S. Department of Education's Race to the Top competition has provided an unprecedented opportunity for states to advance public elementary and secondary education reform. The competition's requirements encompass reforms ranging from overhauling teacher assessment to adopting common educational standards to eliminating restrictions on the…

Child care teachers and staff are important influences on preschoolers' nutrition and physical activity habits, and their views may be influenced by education level, years of field experience, and program involvement. For the 360 participants surveyed, responses on 5 of 18 survey items significantly differed by education level (e.g., less…

Public school districts in the Mississippi (MS) Delta are under severe pressure to make rapid and adaptable changes in response to the federal legislation No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the MS Plan for Student Achievement: Assessment, Accreditation, and Accountability. These reform Acts require higher student performance standards and new…