Fearing a federal court in Oklahoma might end a state-financed merit-scholarship program targeted by a discrimination lawsuit, black legislators passed a bill making the program race and gender neutral. State regents are criticized for failing to develop effective policy to remedy past discrimination. (MSE)

Two senior administrators at the University of Delaware discuss the types of cost data that are ultimately useful for decision making and policy development. Describes the data collection format and provides examples of departmental workload verification data and departmental expenditures by object and function. Explains use of comparative…

Explores the relationship of social science research to social policy making, stressing that social science models and research findings are largely irrelevant to the actual concerns of policymakers and noting the ways in which ideological factors mediate the process. (SLD)

This study examined the presence, origins, contents, and purposes of Internet acceptable use policies in 100 selected K-12 schools. Discusses results of descriptive and qualitative analysis of an online survey and content analysis, including areas of liability, online behavior, system integrity, content quality, and consequences of violation of…

Discusses the roles played by participants and the processes involved in a provincial standards-setting exercise for a large-scale assessment of student skills. Offers perspectives of a policy maker outside the exercise and an insider participant. Describes alternate notions of representativeness, stakes, and significance. (SLD)

Examines a 1994 General Accounting Office (GAO) report on sexual harassment at U.S. service academies to determine how power structures affected the report writers' rhetorical choices. Identifies what is valued and devalued in the report's contents. Describes Congress's reaction to the report and speculates on the report's impact on public…

Considers aspects of managing change as illustrated in 25 British secondary schools that have implemented antibullying policies for pupils. Despite staff ownership, problems arising from the subjectivity of policy interpretation and contextual pressures are likely to affect outcomes. Analysis of questionnaire and report data shows that policy…

Incidents of point-shaving and placing and accepting bets are evidence that professional gamblers are influencing college sports and campus life. Because of student athletes' competitive nature, they may be more likely to engage in gambling. The National Collegiate Athletic Association and individual colleges are examining and addressing this…

Examines 10 dichotomies in teacher education to see which ones are symptoms of larger problems in society and which fall within the province of the teacher education community. Condenses the 10 dichotomies down to two, focusing on the dependence of teacher education policy on a wider, but not always wise, public, and the effects of specialization…

Investigated the extent to which Florida's school districts complied with the Florida Department of Education's (FDOE) recommendations for addressing sexual harassment in schools. Surveys of district equity coordinators and analysis of policies indicated that most districts approved sexual harassment policies incorporating many FDOE…

Increasingly, when children are not safe in their homes, they are placed with relatives. This article discusses how factors such as availability of foster care, attitudes toward extended families, and policies regarding payment for care costs have contributed to the growth in kinship care. Research on kinship care is reviewed, and needed policies…

Describes an ongoing three-year research project comparing the purposes, antecedents, and consequences of large-scale educational reforms in Alberta, Manitoba, Minnesota, England, and New Zealand. Comparative analysis focuses on policy origins and the role of ideology in reform proposals, codification of reform into law or regulation,…

Interviews with 29 policymakers involved in the development of the National Vocational Qualifications/Scottish Vocational Qualifications identified four factors influencing the reform initiative: pressure for vocational relevance, postindustrial nature of economic change and work, need to make training standards based rather than time served, and…

Two eastern superintendents explain how to develop sportsmanship in interscholastic athletics. A summit meeting in Superintendent Ritacco's district produced a policy governing sportsmanlike behavior in district athletics programs and community youth leagues. Superintendent Kerr's board embedded sportsmanship in a larger athletic philosophy that…

A survey of 210 parent members of one state's local interagency coordinating council found that parent members typically had higher incomes and educational levels and were less likely to belong to an ethnic minority than expected, based on state demographic data. Implications for facilitating representation of all families in early intervention…