State boards of education and state boards of higher education have worked independently and often in competition in the past. Now states seem increasingly interested in coordinating education at all levels, not always appropriately. Trends in educational governance, academic reform, and state financing suggest the direction of future educational…

The purpose of this research study was to illustrate the ways in which out-of-level testing policies have changed over the three years from 2000-2001 to 2003-2004. In 2000-2001, 12 states were using out-of-level tests to measure student progress toward content standard proficiency. A detailed research study conducted at the end of 2000-2001 to…

This document represents the first of two volumes presented in "Study of the Impact of the Statewide Systemic Initiatives Program" (Norman L. Webb and Iris R. Weiss). In an effort to evaluate the impact of the Statewide Systemic Initiatives (SSIs) on student achievement and the lessons that could be learned from the National Science…

The quality of high schools--how well they prepare students for productive employment as well as active citizenship--has been part of the state and national agendas for several years. To help complete an action plan for addressing the issue of high school quality, the Iowa Department of Education and State Board of Education during the spring of…

The Early Childhood Education Network was created as a result of a year-long collaborative project between the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) and the Policymaker Partnership to help states create an infrastructure to support the delivery of quality services to children and their families. The boards of education in six…

Indiana's Comprehensive Action Plan (I-CAP) provides a framework for program excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement in adult education. The action plan includes guiding principles and benchmarks for quality programs. Adult education programs are evaluated annually on these 10 established principles of program quality: educational…

This State Policy Update provides background on professional development (PD) in adult education. Section 2 describes survey methods used to document how states funded and designed their PD systems. Section 3 reviews data collected by the survey of state PD systems, highlighting PD activities in Kentucky, New York, Oregon, and Tennessee. It…

This publication provides the competencies and key indicators for a cosmetology program that prepares students to become licensed in the State of Ohio to work in the area of hair, skin, and/or nail care. Competencies and the related key indicators are presented for these 14 units: orientation to the cosmetology profession; dispensary operations…

In 1993, Washington's state legislature created the Commission on Student Learning to identify essential academic learning requirements related to four goals. One of those goals was to understand the importance of work and how performance, effort, and decisions directly affect career and educational opportunities. As in other states, the…

State-level governance of community colleges has become increasingly common in the United States, with governance decisions affecting budget appropriations, rules on how appropriations can be spent, and the missions that colleges must strive to fulfill. The most common elements of state-level community college mission statements over the past 100…

This 21st annual report summarizes the activities of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges for 1996-97. The first part presents a report from the Senate President, a financial statement, lists of goals and committee priorities for 1996-97, and minutes from the Senate's fall 1996 and spring 1997 sessions. The second part presents…

Despite the potential of technology, it is clear that the benefits of computers, multimedia and telecommunications technology are not as widespread in schools as could be hoped. To ensure that all students and teachers have access to technology, the issue of comprehensive, statewide implementation must be addressed. This cost model for…

This paper examines alternative teacher certification, its history, research and implications, recommendations and rationale, and specific recommendations for Delaware public education policy. Chapter 1 reviews the history of alternative certification beginning in the early 1980s when regional shortages of math and science teachers drove the…

A study examined the supply and demand for business teachers for public schools in Illinois. Data from these sources were analyzed: employment projections by the Illinois Department of Employment Security, information about current and projected business education teacher positions throughout Illinois, demographic data about the state's current…

Over the past 20 years, the share of Kentucky's general fund dollars spent on police and corrections, and health and human services, has increased. Meanwhile, the share spent on elementary and secondary education has not changed, while higher education funding has fallen. Compared to similar states, Kentucky spends less money per student at all…