This paper summarizes a roundtable that brought together researchers, school leaders, practitioners, and policymakers to identify barriers to the education and well-being of urban children and families and explore opportunities to promote change. The first section summarizes the three commissioned papers: "Issues and Strategies Related to…

The annual report of the National Council on Disability (NCD) describes major activities of 1998 to promote policies, programs, practices, and procedures that guarantee equal opportunity for all individuals with disabilities, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability. NCD's major activities for 1998 are grouped into four areas: (1)…

This report provides a brief overview highlighting why policymakers should expand the focus of school reform to encompass a reframing and restructuring of education support programs and services and school-community partnerships. The report also suggests ways to accomplish this. It is time for reform advocates to expand their emphasis on improving…

This paper discusses 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) that promote the inclusion of children with disabilities in general early childhood education settings. The evolution of inclusion policy is explored and changes in disability terminology are described. Amended provisions are then explained and include:…

This paper argues that the standards for reporting and interpreting educational research should be raised. It suggests the need for a higher standard is urgent in fields such as beginning reading, in which public interest is intense, because findings can quickly become distorted or misinterpreted and enshrined through misinformed policy decisions.…

This second booklet aimed at stakeholders in South Africa's early childhood development (ECD) system focuses on two areas related to how learning in the country is going to be designed, assessed, and recognized by the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). Part 1 examines the new approach being established as the foundation of the country's…

This report describes the implementation and first 6 months of data collection of the required performance outcome measures for children receiving mental health services in Florida, as required under Florida's 1994 Government Performance and Accountability Act. This summary is of data received from August 1996 to January 1997 and includes data for…

Licensing requirements are often regarded as minimum standards that result in only a basic level of care. In fact, the minimum standards that licensing requires can be as high or low as licensing rules permit. Further, in almost all cases, licensing requirements provide a foundation upon which higher standards can be built. The relationship…

Colleges and universities face a variety of challenges in meeting the needs of students, and one of the greatest is their ability to respond to student needs while protecting institutional and academic integrity. For those working with students, a primary example of this challenge is the involvement of students in shared decision-making, a process…

Professional literature about managing conflicts associated with declining enrollments indicates the existing tension in this area. A research study shows that, while upper-middle class districts may succeed using a rational approach to decision making, lower class districts, for various reasons, may not. Special problems of urban districts are…

This article explores the evolution of federal government policy on education during the past 20 years, points out trends likely to influence future policy, and projects possible future responses to these trends. The roles of educational interest groups instrumental in passing the legislation are described. (PP)

Data on college bound students from several suburban Philadelphia communities were statistically analyzed, and it was found students could be grouped according to the characteristics of the institutions they applied to, in no more than eight stable choice sets. Implications for policy formation are discussed. (MSE)

"Policy" has emerged as an organizing vehicle for encouraging innovation and guiding administrative decisions in academe. Barriers to innovation are identified as: general, faculty, administrative, and personal resistance. The development of leadership familiar with the nature and function of policy as an organizing concept is essential. (MLW)

Confusion and conflict between college administration and policy formation are discussed. A reformulation of trustee, administrator, and faculty responsibility is proposed in which policy-making and implementation are shared, in varying proportions according to institution size and type, and in which the administration is encouraged to formulate…

Highlights a meeting of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Includes various issues as presented in addresses by representatives of member nations. Issues focus on all aspects of the deteriorating state of the earth's environment and on what to do about it over the next 10 years. (Author/JN)