Examines state takeovers in Logan County, West Virginia; Compton, California; and Jersey City, New Jersey. Lessons learned include align the local curriculum with state standards and tests; work to prevent administrator turnover; pick a realistic number of problems to address each year; open lines of communication with the community; maintain…

Presents the findings of a national study examining statewide articulation agreements that facilitate transfer between institutions of higher education. Reports that 34 of 43 states have established a statewide articulation agreement. Concludes that although progress has been made at the state level in smoothing the paths of college transfer…

Examination of participation and accommodation policies of all states revealed that in most states the Individualized Education Program team is central in deciding the participation of students with disabilities in state assessments. Testing accommodations are commonly allowed, although there is considerable variability. States generally offer…

Secondary career-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

This paper presents the State Governance Action Report for 2007. Compiled in this report are state policy developments, including legislation, commissions, and studies, affecting the structure, responsibilities, and operations of public higher education governing boards and institutionally related foundations. Governance and governance-related…

"Educators Resource Directory" is designed to provide both educators and education professionals with immediate access to a unique compilation of over 6,500 educational resources and over 130 tables and charts of education statistics and rankings. It would take many hours of searching through multiple resources to uncover all the…

That college and university boards should have a policy on trustee conflict of interest is nearly universally accepted. Yet there is little consensus among institutions on just what the policy should be--and broad national consensus anytime soon is unlikely. Boards thus face a host of questions, many of which this document addresses, regarding…

This white paper examines the roles that various levels of government play through legislation, policy, and other initiatives that support quality alternative education programs to reconnect youth to education and the workplace. It raises issues for policymakers at all levels to consider in facilitating the development of expanded alternative…

Camden, New Jersey, a city of 80,000 located directly across the Delaware River from center-city Philadelphia, is, by any index of urban decay, one of the nation's most distressed urban centers. While severely ineffective, the city houses the essential building blocks of future recovery: branches of four colleges and universities and two major…

Before undergoing restructuring in 1991, the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) was perceived as a model of bureaucratic inefficiency, an impediment to school reform. This paper presents findings of a study that investigated the typical operating procedures of the new KDE. Surveys were sent to a total of 293 randomly selected Kentucky public…

Charter schools are publicly financed schools that are governed by teachers, parents, administrators, or others who want to create and manage an innovative public school. This document briefly defines charter schools and provides an overview of their history. It also discusses the stance toward charter schools taken by President Clinton, who…

Before the passage of Title IX of the Civil Rights Act in 1972, pregnant and parenting students throughout the United States were often expelled from school. This manual for Oregon school administrators and social-service personnel provides information on the school-enrollment laws that affect pregnant and parenting students and describes some of…

Implementing welfare reform will require difficult decisions from states about how to treat welfare clients who have problems with alcohol or other drugs (AOD). The processes by which states may respond to welfare reform are detailed in this guidebook. It is suggested that states begin with values clarification regarding welfare clients who abuse…

This document summarizes home-school laws in each of the 50 states. The first part highlights features of state statutes. By 1997, 35 states had adopted home-school statutes or regulations. Forty-one states did not require home-schooling parents to have any specific qualifications. The second part provides profiles of each of the 50 state's…

This document, designed to support Arizona's special education state plan, establishes minimum standards for Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), provides a measurement tool for determining compliance with federal and state requirements, and establishes criteria for determining appropriate placement in the least restrictive environment. The…