The California Education Summit, which brought together some 300 individuals representing major groups driving California education reform (teachers, principals, superintendents, parents, students, school board members, business leaders, and community members), was called for two reasons: (1) to begin developing a consensus, or game plan for the…

In recent years, many policy makers, including officials in the Federal Government and the National Governors' Association, have advocated public school choice as the answer to the problems of public education. In 1987, Minnesota was the first state to pass legislation implementing a statewide, interdistrict, open enrollment plan for public…

For the 1982-83 school year, the Austin (Texas) Public Schools adopted a high school attendance policy allowing a maximum of 10 absences per semester for course credit to be earned. Under this policy, Austin's high school attendance rose to an all-time high of 93.5 percent in 1983-84. In 1984-85, education reform mandated by the Texas Legislature…

This document presents the texts of two Senate hearings on S. 1156, the Child Victim Witness Protection Act of 1985. The text of the first hearing, held in Birmingham, Alabama, contains the text of S. 1156 and an opening statement by Senator Denton which summarizes the overall policy behind the bill. A statement by Senator McConnell is included.…

Since World War II, the American economy has consistently grown. However, this economic growth has been less impressive in the past 10 years, and some significant problems have developed. These include slowed economic growth, high inflation, and high unemployment. Among the major interrelated causes of these problems have been international…

As part of its school restructuring work with states, the National Governors' Association commissioned the Center for Policy Research on Education to conduct case studies of several local school districts experimenting with new structural arrangements. This case study is based on visits to four such districts: Jefferson County Schools (Louisville,…

After discussing the need for second-order (or structural) reform and Tennessee's leadership in "first wave" legislation, this paper describes selected aspects of Tennessee reform activities and recent events leading to client-centered control. Tennessee's Better Schools Program, consistent with "first-wave" proposals,…

In response to ongoing needs for improved preservice field experiences for prospective administrators, more stringent state certification standards, and technical support for practitioners, mutually beneficial alliances are being formed between universities and local schools. This paper describes part of a continuing University Council for…

The major topics covered in these newsletters include: (1) background information on Project Education Reform; (2) "The Governors' 1991 Report on Education: Time for Results"; (3) elementary education and the National Governors' Association (NGA) project; (4) the goals of 16 school sites in carrying out recommendations from the NGA…

During the last two years many legislatures and state boards of education have been devising plans and establishing programs to reward outstanding performance of teachers through incentive programs. States are implementing large-scale statewide programs, funding pilot projects, or funding the local development of performance-based incentive…

A survey of key educational leaders at the state level revealed strong support for most of the recommendations advocated by national reports such as "A Nation at Risk." Surveys went to school board leadership, executive directors of state associations for administrators, state affiliates of teacher organizations, and state…

South Carolina's Education Improvement Act of 1984 is motivating, innovative, challenging, and satisfying. The law is motivating to the citizens of South Carolina because it promises increased student academic achievement, better services to special groups of students and school personnel, improved school conditions, extensive community…

This special report reviews air quality control plans formulated by each state. Comparisons of these plans and discussions on the degree of implementation achieved by state governments are presented. Problems surrounding the establishment and implementation of EPA approved plans are discussed. (JP)

Community colleges could use a forecasting model to better match manpower supply to demands, as institutions in Kansas have done. (Editor)

Although much has been done at the federal level to control deceptive advertising practices, many states have no criminal laws designed to regulate advertising, and several states recently repealed such laws. This paper examines states' efforts to balance the advertiser's freedom of speech with the consumer's need for information about products by…