Historical and philosophical tensions between Ontario's central provincial educational system and local school boards have been mitigated by division of administrative responsibilities. The province's vastness and cultural diversity are persistent sources of tension. Historical tensions are significant, for colonial schooling standards and French…

Intended for use by school administrators, guidance counselors, teachers and proctors, this manual contains general information on the New York State Regents examinations and competency tests, as well as specific regulations and procedures for ordering, administering, and rating these examinations. The competency testing requirements for a local…

This document presents the revised guidelines for staff development in Mississippi, as mandated by the Education Reform Act of 1982, produced by the State Department of Education in consultation with various state-appointed commissions and 16 school districts that participated in a pilot testing program. These guidelines are to be used by all…

To draw comparisons for assessing transportation costs and developing recommendations for legislative action in New York, this study compares school transportation policies and practices that may be related to differences in transportation costs in eight states having the largest public school enrollments for 1980. Data were obtained from existing…

The subject of this panel presentation was a collaborative effort to improve writing instruction around the state of Kentucky, which resulted in the funding of several National Writing Project sites, regional workshops, and a competitive grants program to encourage middle and high school classroom teachers to develop innovative writing projects in…

Historically, in sharp contrast with the United States, the Australian state systems of public education have always been extremely centralized and hierarchical in structure. While these highly centralized systems served the sparsely populated Australian states well during the early years of this century in providing universal free education and…

This chapter provides an overview of recent school finance litigation at the local, state, and federal levels. The first section addresses legal challenges to state school finance systems and reviews decisions from Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, New York, and West Virginia. Litigation attacking states' methods of funding public…

This report addresses the technical and legal issues attendant to the implementation of a comprehensive student information system in California. It documents the legislative origins of the study and the conditions of state-level information systems within California and other states. It then describes the legal issues arising from the collection,…

After explaining why more choice among schools is a good idea, this paper provides details and evaluations of state plans for increasing choice in schools, delineates the characteristics of a desirable school choice plan, and advises parents on choosing schools. Current school choice policies in the following states are briefly summarized: Alaska,…

Established by the state legislature in 1980, the Oklahoma Citizens' Commission on Education (OCCE) aimed to evaluate the state's schools and prescribe goals for its future educational system. This report presents OCCE's recommendations and background materials. The first section comprises OCCE's 42 recommendations and statements, with supporting…

The court decision in the case of "Alma v. Dupree," finding the Arkansas School Finance System unconstitutional, ordered the State of Arkansas to establish a valid school finance system. Subsequently, the State's General Assembly created a 15-member commission to develop a plan for implementing an adequate and equitable school finance…

Clarifications to recommendations made in the Utah Education Reform Committee report, "A Call to Action," are presented in this addendum. Earlier recommendations relating to teachers are revised and clarified and new ones relating to class size, teachers' duties, instructional materials, and the student-parent-school relationship are…

This paper examines the development of Alaska's Public School Fund, its current status, and its potential as a major revenue source for elementary and secondary education. The fund, which was created following the 1915 federal school lands grant to Alaska, is examined for the 1916-58 territorial period, the 1959-78 early statehood period, and the…

This paper describes a project underway at the California State Department of Education to develop a model curriculum for computers in education. The first part of the paper describes the unique aspects of computers in education, including their potential for efficient transmission of information, the possibilities for teaching subject matter…

This report summarizes recent compensatory education program activities in Ohio, which were funded through Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act. It presents and discusses statistics for the 1982-83 school year, participation trends, instructional impact, expenditure and staffing patterns, inservice training, parent…