This publication presents a series of charts, designed for quick reference, which describe the status of alternative teacher certification routes in each of the 50 states. The charts were prepared in response to an increasing number of inquiries from educators, policy makers, and the public. Information was gathered by telephone surveys of state…

In compliance with the Massachusetts Public School Improvement Act of 1985, this report provides information in the following areas: research findings; national and state demographics regarding children and families; services for children and families in Massachusetts; high quality early childhood programs; and the emerging role of public schools…

A study in Georgia evaluated the pre-program to post-program changes in employment, earnings, and welfare dependency for the 6,693 Title II-A adults that occurred between application and participant follow-up 13 weeks after leaving the state's Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) program during the 1989-90 program year. Findings revealed…

Issues in school choice are addressed, with a focus on Minnesota. The first chapter presents a rationale in support of school choice, examining school choice as a catalyst for change based on American values. Outcomes of choice include parent influence over state allocation of resources and changes in the roles and responsibilities of educators,…

Development and implementation processes of the Beginning Educator Support and Training (BEST) program, a teacher evaluation and support system in Connecticut, are described. Purposes of the BEST teacher induction program include facilitating the acquisition of effective teaching behaviors, supporting new teachers, and developing veteran teachers'…

This report presents basic descriptive statistics on persons with mental retardation and related conditions in state-operated residential facilities on June 30, 1989. The report distinguishes among facilities by size, notably those with 15 or fewer residents and those with 16 or more residents. It also distinguishes between two general classes of…

The Texas Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) Program is an interdisciplinary, interagency program established with the belief that programs working in partnership with parents will best serve the needs of infants and toddlers with developmental delays. Services for the children include physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech/language…

Questions and answers on North Carolina's Senate Bill 2, the School Improvement and Accountability Act, are presented in this booklet. General information about governance, assessment, and funding is provided in the first section. The next section explains setting specific student performance targets in the form of performance indicators. The…

This paper provides an overview of how Massachusetts has successfully integrated use of the federal Medicaid program into a plan for financing Part H of Public Law 99-457, the 1986 Amendments to the Education of the Handicapped Act, on a statewide basis. Noted is the lack of a single strategy for accessing Medicaid funds for early intervention…

Interest in evaluating vocational and technical education has increased with changes in the federally legislated evaluation requirements and the national interest in economic development. Recommendations have stressed mastery of basic academic skills and preparation for multiple jobs during the working years. Indiana's three-level system for…

This document reports on efforts to develop an initiative to target increased involvement of the Arizona Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) with Arizona's disabled American Indians both on and off reservations. The report summarizes comments on important issues generated during a central office planning meeting of the Arizona RSA. It…

This document begins with an annotated outline of Public Law 96-272, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, which encourages states to prevent unnecessary removal of children from their homes and to reunify foster children with their families. The document discusses reasons for the law's enactment, the law's provisions, its…

A study examined the degree to which former students of Pennsylvania adult basic education (ABE) programs are maintaining and using the literacy skills that they developed while participating in ABE programs. During the study, researchers examined former students enrolled in ABE programs in 1974, 1976, and 1978. After analyzing demographic data…

This study focuses on possible factors which contributed to the low mathematics scores achieved by Florida's 11th graders on the 1977 Functional Literacy Test. The authors developed preliminary hypotheses to explain the low scores based upon professional conjecture, analyses of test items, and examination of item data from the October 1977 test…

The discussed and illustrated principles regarding teacher performance data and decision making are common sense ideas that have been developed based on a good deal of thought about the definition of minimally acceptable job performances. The presented scoring systems are ways of describing how much a teacher must do in order to be scored…