Texas has moved from an education system that prescribes procedures to one that emphasizes student achievement. The plan described here provides a framework that educators and policymakers can use to coordinate federal, state, regional, and local education plans and initiatives in Texas. The plan includes the following goals: Students in the…

There is no data on the extent to which attention disorder drugs have been diverted or abused at school, or the extent to which state laws or regulations guide local school offices in safely administering these drugs. To clarify these issues, this report provides information on and analysis of: (1) the diversion and abuse of attention deficit…

Professional school counselors are required by law and/or regulation in every state to obtain a state-issued credential in order to be employed in public schools. Information regarding certification requirements and state mandates are covered in this report. The information was compiled through an analysis of state laws, regulations, credentialing…

This report, based on a survey of State Directors of Special Education, describes current state policies on home schooling with particular attention to state requirements on home schooling for students with disabilities. Background information notes that home schooling is an exemption from compulsory school attendance and does not include home or…

The drastic actions that have been taken in the District of Columbia public schools offer many lessons for those interested in urban school reform. In November 1996, the District of Columbia's federally appointed financial control board took over the school system, firing the superintendent and replacing the elected school board with an appointed…

This guide is intended to help California educators comply with requirements of the 1990 Hughes Act (which ensured the right of the state's special education students to a behavioral intervention plan) and with requirements of the reauthorized Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1997) concerning functional behavioral assessment and…

This paper is intended to assist school districts in Florida in the implementation of the 1999 Sunshine State Standards for Special Diploma. First, the specific state rules related to student performance standards, course descriptions, and graduation requirements are cited. Twenty-five questions and answers present the guidelines, which address:…

Decentralization is arguably one of the most important phenomena to come on to the educational planning agenda in the last 15 years. Why a country should decentralize its educational decision-making process and which decisions should be decentralized are two questions that many decision-makers raise. This booklet is intended to provide educational…

The State of Maryland has published this guide that provides State and local personnel, architects, and governmental officials with the method of operation and administration of the State's Public School Construction Program. The material is arranged in sequential order and follows a project from inception through design, construction, and…

The public view of charter schools and their proposed mission will have a major impact on how well this school reform effort will be sustained. Support for charter schools in Pennsylvania has grown to such an extent that it may prevent demand for voucher systems. Parents dissatisfied with public schools elected to transfer their children to…

This document is a compendium of Colorado special education administrative decisions issued in 1996 and 1997, including decisions of impartial hearing officers (IHOs), state level reviews, and federal complaints officers. An index is provided which lists the decisions by key topics. The full text of each decision is preceded by a case summary that…

The Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (the State Board) is responsible for the assurance of a free appropriate public education to all students with disabilities - ages three through twenty-one years, including students with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school - and, at the discretion of the local…

Describes how a Virginia law forbidding state employees to access sexually explicit material on state-owned computers without written permission from their agency's head has "plagued" one professor, requiring numerous incidents of permission-seeking regarding Victorian poetry. (EV)

Accountability of higher education institutions is discussed in the context of recent criticism of the institutional accreditation system. It is suggested that institutions reevaluate their responsibilities and reaffirm appropriate core values; however, application of those values will be influenced by the principal clients: students, employers,…

Explores the role played by modernization policies of the government in promoting contemporary conflicts between private and public interests, using Mexico and Oregon's education systems as case studies. Finds modernization policies, especially the privatization of education, inappropriate in meeting social, political, and economic needs of both…