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…

This report details a survey of state child care regulatory agencies. Data on both small family child care homes (FCCH) and group or large family child care homes (LCCH or GCCH) are included and organized into 22 categories: (1) number of regulated homes; (2) definitions and regulatory requirements; (3) unannounced inspection procedure; (4)…

This report is a brief analysis of information from 47 states and non-state jurisdictions on use of the eligibility category, "developmental delay," for children up until their tenth birthday, as permitted under the 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Relevant policy issues and concerns are also discussed.…

This report analyzes the content of State regulations for determining student eligibility for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The Federal law and regulations set a basic standard for the design and delivery of special education, and each State has adopted its own laws and regulations to supplement the Federal…

California has close to 2,000 privately owned schools that offer vocational programs not leading to a degree. These include schools providing training and certification for a wide variety of careers in such areas as computer technology, cosmetology, health care, and other business and technical occupations. In addition, there are over 300…

These two technical assistance papers are designed to provide further clarification to Florida school districts regarding the completion of matrices for students with disabilities and on the documentation of the amount of services a student receives on an Individualized Education Program (IEP). The "Matrix of Services" is used to…

This briefing paper discusses academic accommodations for high school students with disabilities. It begins by reviewing provisions under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that require Individualized Education Programs to include a statement of the program modifications or supports that will be provided for the child to enable the…

The purpose of this guide is to help citizen advocates create and improve the environmental practices of industry and government in the Great Lakes Basin. The practices advocated focus on pollution prevention instead of relying solely on pollution control. An introduction examines the larger issues of pollution prevention and zero discharge as the…

This report is designed to assist states and districts as they consider the issues surrounding the use of non-approved testing accommodations for students with disabilities, including changes in test setting, timing, scheduling, presentation, or response. Recommendations are provided for ways to use and report data from assessments taken with…

Although states must certify that they have requirements to protect the health and safety of children in child care in order to receive Child Care and Development Block Grant funds, neither the scope nor stringency of these requirements has been stipulated. At the request of Congressional members, this report identifies the most critical…

This final report discusses the findings of a study that investigated the extent to which severe and/or high cost disabilities are evenly or unevenly distributed among the population of special education local plan areas (SELPAs) in California, and if the population-based special education funding formula should be adjusted. Results of the study…