This Working Paper presents an overview of findings from research that addresses whether, and to what extent, gender is salient in the development of norms of citizen behavior and key precursors to citizen engagement. A variety of data is used to illuminate the complexity of gender's relationship to citizen engagement among today's youth. The bulk…

Although interpersonal and relational skills are clearly relevant to successful performance in many jobs and roles, there is evidence that these skills are not valued in the same way as technical skills or the skills of self-promotion and "managing up." The label "women's work" is often linked to interpersonal competence with…

These 10th and 11th grade lessons plans related to the Great Depression and the novel "The Grapes of Wrath" help students to: develop research skills and strategies, such as keyword searches, for finding information; recognize and use the different voices of migrants; and understand the politics of migration and the Great Depression. By…

This working paper examines why Project Giant Step, a well-received policy initiative for universal preschool for 4-year-olds in New York City, was discontinued after overcoming many of the challenges it faced. Project Giant Step forced collaboration between large public agencies differing in their institutional structures, funding sources, and…

This digest presents various views of the federal role in testing and offers a brief examination of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the "nation's report card," in its national sample format and its state administration, which critics fear has the potential to become a de facto national test if selected as the…

Two surveys were conducted during July-September 2000 at the request of the Arkansas School Boards Association (ASBA). Their purpose included identifying specific legislative issues that the organization would include in its legislative agenda for the 2001 session. Responses detailed board members' involvement in state and federal policymaking and…

This pamphlet presents First Lady Laura Bush's "Ready to Read, Ready to Learn Initiative," whose goals are to highlight successful early childhood programs that teach children important pre-reading and vocabulary skills; provide parents and caregivers with information to help their children learn; and help recruit and retain excellent…

This document is a summary, collected from StateNet, Lexis-Nexis, state Web sites, and state newsletters. The summary includes educational policies enacted throughout the country since 1999. StateNet and Lexis-Nexis descriptions reflect the content of bills as introduced, and may not reflect changes made during the legislative process. Highlights…

Even though a majority of Americans claim to support public funding of the arts, state government spending on the arts is minimal--and may be losing ground relative to other types of state expenditures. Moreover, most state arts agencies, or SAAs, have not succeeded in convincing state government leaders that the arts should be integral to their…

The purpose of this study was two-fold: (1) to describe four conservative public policy research institutions as organizations in comparison with more traditional policy organizations such as the Brookings Institution, and (2) to examine their views on current issues in higher education in relation to selected national higher education reports.…

This paper examines changes in California's school finance system over the past 35 years. It focuses specifically on the growth of categorical program funding. The study assesses the nature and magnitude of changes, the causes of those changes, the significance of those changes for the capacity of schools to provide high quality educational…

Thomas Elementary School serves a poor, predominantly Latino neighborhood in Chicago (Illinois). This paper reviews some of the developments within each of the school's three sites of power--parents, the principal, and the faculty--and considers the important role of social capital in this immigrant community. Data were obtained through…

In 1987 a project was undertaken to assess the status of African Americans in the United States in the topical areas to be addressed by the National Research Council's (NRC) Study Committee on the Status of Black Americans: education, employment, income and occupations, political participation and the administration of justice, social and cultural…

The Gender Equity in Recreation Services Policy for the City of London (Ontario, Canada, November 1996) was the first municipal policy of its kind in Canada. It followed the development of the Sport Canada Policy on Women in Sport and the Ontario Policy on Full and Fair Access for Women and Girls in Sport and Physical Activity. It resulted from…

The educational advantages conferred by rurality and smallness have their greatest impact at the school and classroom level, but this same rurality creates district or system-level problems that have often been solved by consolidation. Consolidation efforts have been waning because they are politically unpopular, good economic times allow states…