The Tennessee Career Ladder Program assesses Tennessee teachers to award merit pay to those determined to be exemplary. This article describes the first two years of the program (1984-85 and 1985-86), the procedure designed to equate standards, the implementation of that procedure, and the results of the equating effort. (TJH)

The "support not supplant" theory of family support services is explained, and results of a national study of trends in family support are analyzed. Current efforts, state legislation, funding levels, respite services, financial assistance, and emerging issues are discussed. A directory of state family support programs is appended. (PB)

Points to an increased national awareness of the importance to society of provision for children's and families' needs. This awareness has resulted in new levels of legislative action. Discusses what Alaska has and has not achieved, cites movements in other states, and offers a call to vigorous action. (NH)

Describes a two-year project sponsored by the California State Library that assisted local public libraries in improving their reference services. Project activities included the provision of basic reference materials to all libraries, training workshops in reference techniques for paraprofessional staff, and specialized workshops and reference…

Commonly employed measures of school quality can lead to very misleading results. Especially at the state level, nonrepresentative data such as aggregate Scholastic Aptitude Test scores provide very biased measures of school performance. Far superior are direct estimates of achievement growth. (SK)

It is suggested that some of the technology applied to state Scholastic Aptitude Test scores to measure states' educational performance (particularly use of a truncated Gaussian model) may make it possible to adjust National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores to make inferences about state educational progress possible. (SLD)

Differences between state and local special education programs and the state-federal vocational rehabilitation (VR) program are highlighted, through discussion of the history of the state-federal VR program, the differing definitions of disabilities, operation of the VR program, funding differences, and resultant differences in evaluation…

Through a questionnaire survey of 267 school districts, the actual practices of United States school districts identified as having outstanding staff development programs were compared with those of randomly-selected school districts. Discrepancies and similarities are discussed, along with support needs for instructional improvement. (SLD)

The Minnesota Business Partnership (MBP) was studied as a policy innovator in state school reform (for kindergarten through grade 12) in relation to agenda setting, alternative formulation, and authoritative enactment. Focus is on the MBP's policy-making involvement during the 1985 state legislative session. Overall, the MBP's influence was…

Initial findings of a longitudinal study of the efficacy of public preschool programs in South Carolina are presented. Two separate research designs were used to study 362 preschoolers in comparison with 1,662 non-preschoolers. School readiness was increased by participation in preschool when a minimum level of quality was maintained. (SLD)

True educational reform is the creation of a renewed identity at the school and classroom level when teachers and students interact in new, more productive ways. This article describes California's educational reform movement, presents evidence of successful change, and identifies where continued work needs to be done. (TE)

Shared Information Services is a state-operated network of four resource centers for gifted education in Indiana. The network provides support in the areas of program development, teacher education, classroom teaching resources, and program evaluation. A variety of library and technical assistance services is provided to teachers and others by…

Describes the Florida Automated System for Transferring Educational Records (FASTER) project, which permits the electronic exchange of student transcripts; uses of similar electronic data interchange (EDI) programs in other states; and the national SPEEDE/ExPRESS project, which uses a standard format for transferring electronic transcripts.…

How the performance appraisal system for school psychologists in North Carolina was developed and implemented is described. The evaluation system was developed with consideration for those to be evaluated and with respect for the needs of individuals as well as organizations. (SLD)

Cost factors associated with the development, administration, and scoring of performance assessment tasks are examined in the context of a statewide or other large-scale assessment program. Resources of money, time, and expertise are discussed. (SLD)