School districts often find themselves in a double bind when dealing with the public: they seek public input, but also are vulnerable to manipulation by organized interest groups that are not representative of the entire community. The dilemma is how to procure the overall community's public judgment of a topic and allow widespread participation.…

The System Funding Task Force (SFTF) of the Illinois Community College Board was formed to review the recommendations and framework for modifying the state's funding plan developed by the Board's President's Council. This report presents the SFTF's review of the Council's findings and presents the Task Force's own recommendations for funding.…

In April 1996 the Board on Children, Youth, and Families and the Family and Child Well-Being Research Network convened their second annual research briefing on welfare and children's development. The briefing was intended to: (1) create a venue for productive exchange between researchers and policy makers; (2) maximize the usefulness of research…

A problem for small states is how to access specialist knowledge when the national pool of human resources is small. This is a difficulty for ministries of education and educational institutions. The usual response is to draw on technical assistance, often as part of a wider aid package, from industrialized countries or international agencies. But…

This document presents recommendations for Colorado state teacher education policy additions and changes based on a review of existing policies and in light of current changes in the professional education field. The recommendations are: (1) do not reinstate undergraduate degrees in education; (2) accept interdisciplinary majors for teacher…

This special member of the Journal Teangeolas is devoted to the theme of languages and language policy in Ireland. It contains the following articles: "English as a Foreign Language - Preparing for 1992" (Tom Doyle); "A Language Policy for Irish Schools" (Helen O Murchu); "Don't Disturb the Ancestors" (R. L. Davis);…

This speech focuses on the protection of institutional autonomy in higher education. The speaker opens by offering some of his own basic beliefs. The balance of the paper considers three key issues central to institutional autonomy. The first issue involves specific threats to autonomy: the socio-cultural mistrust of authority and institutions,…

This document describes a policy forum convened to consider the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The forum focused on three critical issues: (1) categorical eligibility, (2) initial assessment, and (3) triennial assessment. For the topic of categorical eligibility, comments are summarized in five sections:…

Using findings of exemplary precedents in other countries for what another country hopes to emulate or avoid is a common practice in policy discourse. This paper argues that recent British moves toward greater choice and diversity in secondary education should neither be prematurely judged as successful within their own context nor applied…

This document on contingent student assistance repayment plans in Ontario universities contains a paper on policy options for repayment plans and the manual for a simulation model for testing policy options. The policy options paper begins by describing the contingent repayment concept in which the test for receiving a public subsidy is shifted…

The purpose of this hearing was to provide insight into the role of the Federal Government in supporting the development and implementation of the educational technology structure that is needed by elementary and secondary schools. It is argued that what is needed is a broad-based policy agreement about the role that educational technology can…

This paper explores the degree to which the public education funds in selected districts have become players at the policy table and examines the factors that permit funds to have a credible voice in the turbulent political world of urban districts without seriously jeopardizing their working "inside" relationships with these systems. The analysis…

This guide aims to facilitate research and policy analysis in rural education by linking substantive issues to the data sources of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The guide may be used in two ways: as a handy tool for scanning NCES data that are presented with immediately applicable issues; and to stimulate, with sample…

This study evaluates the overall social policy system of Hungary and proposes reforms aimed at strengthening its role as a defense against poverty, raising the quality and equity of social programs, ensuring financial sustainability of the system, and restoring incentives (in particular relating to demand and supply for labor) suitable to a market…

Among several innovations in public school curriculum and financing, the 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) also included a school-governance provision. School-Based Decision Making (SBDM) Councils include administrators, teachers, and parents in addressing school-level curriculum and instructional issues. These groups have not had a…