Nearly every high-priority item in national, federal, state, and local discussions about education--and policy proposals across the political spectrum--requires high-quality longitudinal data to inform its design, implementation, and evaluation. This factsheet shares Data Quality Campaign's (DQC's) analysis of what "Data for Action 2011:…

All students, including students with disabilities, participate in state accountability systems. Many students participate in the regular assessment, with or without accommodations, but some students may require participation in an alternate assessment to demonstrate their knowledge and skills. Students with more significant cognitive disabilities…

In 2005 the Texas 79th legislature passed Senate Bill 6, which included mandates to address disproportionality. This article will describe how the Texas Department of Family Protective Services in collaboration with Casey Family Programs' Texas State Strategy systems improvement initiative is addressing disproportionality statewide through…

The study in this article compared counselors and teachers on measures of suicide knowledge and prevention practices after participation in a statewide training program in student suicide prevention using the "Question, Persuade, and Refer" program. Follow-up surveys conducted an average of 4.7 months after training indicated that trainees (73…

This paper evaluates a recent innovation in regulating risk called management-based regulation. Traditionally, risk regulation has either specified a particular means of achieving a risk-reduction goal or specified the goal and left the means of achieving that goal up to the regulated entity. In contrast, management-based regulation neither…

Organizational variables, including policies, practices, collaborations, and funding mechanisms resulting in high performance in integrated employment, were described through case study research in 3 states. Findings address how contextual factors, system-level strategies, and goals of the system are related as well as how they sustain systems…

This article reports on a Louisiana study which suggests that new teachers can be as effective as, or sometimes more effective than, their experienced colleagues. Experts say the study, the first of its kind to come out of a state that has implemented a multi-pronged approach to improving its teacher training, shows that it is possible for states…

To librarians at the Delaware Division of Libraries, Governor Ruth Ann Minner, Secretary of State Harriet Smith Windsor, and Assistant Secretary of State Rick Geisenberger are "the Delaware Dream Team." The governor and her team supported funding for the 2004 statewide effort that resulted in the Delaware Master Plan for Library Services…

Throughout the United States, legislators, business leaders, educators, and other stakeholders are debating the impending crisis of the shortage of mathematicians and scientists in the United States. Several books, such as Thomas Friedman's "The World Is Flat" and Ted Fishman's "China, Inc.," accentuate this growing dilemma.…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the federal stimulus package, will over the next two years provide all states with federal funding to support early learning opportunities for 3- and 4-year-olds. This investment clearly reflects Washington's acknowledgement of the link between high-quality early education and the nation's…

Pursuant to section 22.30.7-109(1)(a) and (d) C.R.S., Online Programs are required to submit an annual report to the Unit of Online Learning within the Colorado Department of Education (CDE). As per the "CDE Rules for the Administration, Certification and Oversight of Colorado's Online Programs", individual program reports were submitted…

A year ago, the U.S. experienced the first symptoms of economic unrest--a sharp spike in fuel prices, rising costs and rising debt, and a jump in foreclosures. Between May and June 2008, unemployment rose a half-point to 5.5 percent and 49,000 jobs were lost. American higher education has been on a collision course with financial reality for more…

In today's uncertain economy, states and regions are experiencing myriad workforce challenges. In the short run, layoffs and unemployment resulting from the current economic downturn dictate an immediate need for education and training to prepare workers for key occupations. In the long run, states and regions continue to exist in a global economy…

By now people are all too familiar with the disheartening numbers: approximately 7,000 students drop out each day, which means nearly one-third of high school students will not graduate with their peers. The statistics are even more staggering for minority and low-income students, especially in the nation's largest urban districts, where less than…

This study examined need, predisposing, market, and regional factors that predicted the likelihood of individuals with developmental disabilities living in state developmental centers (DCs) compared with living at home, in community care, or in intermediate care (ICFs) and other facilities. Secondary data analysis using logistic regression models…