To help policymakers and others measure the school readiness of New Jersey children, the Association for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) participated in the national School Readiness Indicators Initiative, funded by The Packard Foundation. Guided by research on what helps children succeed in school, ACNJ and various private and public New Jersey…

Over the past several decades West Virginia has closed scores of small, locally-based schools (primarily high schools), as part of district-level consolidation. These consolidations have affected families and students in numerous ways. Most notably, students living in outlying towns are now required to travel much longer distances to reach…

Research tells us that specialized training and education of teachers is one of the strongest predictors of child care quality. In the late 1960s, however, most states did not require preservice training or higher education for teachers in early childhood programs or family child care homes. At that time, Missouri wanted to develop a project that…

This document provides information on the State Literacy Resource Centers established by the National Literacy Act. The information provided for each state in a chart format includes type of action being taken under the grant, operator and location, allocation (in dollars), and contact person with address and telephone number. The 50 states are…

The Montana Council on Vocational Education conducted a business and industry survey in February 1993 to recommend initiatives and methods the private sector could undertake to assist in the modernization of vocational education programs. A representative sample of the various types and sizes of Montana businesses were selected. Surveys were…

The report on areas needing further development in provision of quality literacy services for Ontario's (Canada) native populations, based on site visits to native literacy programs, identifies seven key areas for change: (1) strategic planning for program development and implementation and advocacy; (2) program growth and administration; (3)…

This memorandum describes the calculations used to figure the instructional subsidy for postsecondary education in Ohio, focusing on why the model operates as it does and the implications of the current funding model. The two principle factors in the instructional subsidy model are institutional enrollments and actual costs. The model begins with…

This document reports on the evaluation of eight women's studies programs in the State University of Florida System. After reviewing the development of women's studies as a discipline, sections of the report cover measures of quality and vigor in women's studies programs, curriculum, women's studies programs as community builders on and off…

The Kentucky Competency-Based Adult Education (KCBAE) curriculum was developed over a 3-year period and ultimately distributed to all Kentucky adult education and literacy programs in 1995-96. Sixteen competency/duty areas define the subject content. Although each duty area is divided into three skill levels (beginning and intermediate adult basic…

This paper summarizes a study of professional development in Indiana and six other states and its connection to the provision of teacher time. The study examined state provisions for professional development in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and Washington. The states used different approaches to providing teacher…

The report describes a 3-year project to identify and develop appropriate assessment tools for placing adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students into the appropriate proficiency levels according to California's state ESL standards for adult education programs. This involved reviewing 18 commercially available instruments to determine their…

This publication supports revision of the certification and standards for Missouri Vocational Directors. Section I discusses the need for revising the current State Board of Education approved certification requirements. Section II sets forth the relationship between proposed revisions and their application by institutions involved in preparing…

Ohio's Career Development Blueprint is a key component of the state's career development program. The blueprint is a document that includes learner outcomes, indicators, and suggested classroom activities organized by 12 key topic areas: self-awareness, career information, academic planning, future trends, economics, vocational orientation,…

Guidelines for North Carolina public schools that are interested in developing and submitting plans for outcome-based education (OBE) pilot programs for the years 1993-94 and 1996-97 are offered in this document. The OBE program is based on the premise that all students can learn and focuses on the expectations for achievement necessary for…

The performance and goals of the Colorado education system are evaluated in this report, with a focus using progress indicators to establish baseline levels of performance. Colorado 2000's six goals are based on the National Education Goals established in 1989, and are described under the following headings: (1) "Readiness"; (2)…