States that the shift in community college fiscal support and policy making from the local to the state level has resulted in an increased need for statewide data collection. Explores the problems with state-level community college research, provides examples of successful programs, and explains key features of successful statewide research. (DD)

While responsibility for curriculum development in Australia is devolving to the local level, the state systems, in the name of accountability, are retaining responsibility for curriculum evaluation. This article examines the curriculum centralization/decentralization patterns in Australia's states, points out the paradoxes in such systems, and…

The New Jersey Education Association feels that the state proposal to set minimum graduation competencies would reduce the range of high school course offerings, erode local control of schools, and limit student opportunity. A text of the proposed state regulation is included. (SJL)

In the 1980s, English and Welsh schools face two major problems: declining enrollment and financial stringency. These may be exacerbated by the countries' uniquely decentralized educational power structure in which conflicts may be generated by political differences between local and national levels and by national accountability and testing…

Explains methods used by the Mississippi state department of education to reimburse local school districts for vocational expenditures. Different sources of data are reported and methods for arriving at specific reimbursement rates for both secondary and postsecondary programs are depicted. (LRA)

A policy statement by the New Jersey Education Association on the high school graduation requirements adopted by the New Jersey State Board of Education on March 5, 1980. (SJL)

Using the Claremont Group's four-stage model of educational decision making, the author analyzes trends in California toward state control of education. He discusses the implications for educators of increasing policy control by politicians and legislators. (SJL)

Five articles about education service agencies (ESAs) serving rural schools yield five insights. Many rural systems owe their existence to ESA support. ESAs provide critical technology support. States should encourage school district collaboration. Inclusion of postsecondary institutional representatives in ESAs is an important step towards a…

This article documents the responses of a state-supported residential high school for gifted students following the 1994 suicides of three students. The school's measures to develop a screening procedure, design a prevention program, disseminate information about adolescent suicide, and host a conference are outlined, as is a separate crisis…

According to Michael Kirst, school boards are buffers against privatization and must be more flexible, become actively involved in curriculum policy and content, and parry occasional state incursions into curriculum. Kirst's latest project is creating a new vision of delivering children's services to offset the profound economic and social changes…

Foremost policy watcher at the Center for the Study of Teaching, Linda Darling-Hammond analyzes the effects of state and district policies on teachers in classrooms, favors full partnership for teachers in decision-making, and points out the importance of the knowledge base for the professionalization of teaching. (TE)

Due to massive reform initiatives, American states have become major policy makers for public schools. Examines, from a state and a political-influence perspective, the causes, processes, and consequences of the decade-long "education excellence" movement. Places events in historical context, draws upon research findings, and applies an…

Four high school-aged deaf students in a college preparatory American history class at a state residential school were instructed regarding the use of syntactic cohesion (words such as "meanwhile") in their written assignments. Students' average percentage of correct use of the five taught terms increased 27%. Maintenance after six weeks and…

Because schools falter when children's lives are deprived, resource centers link Kentucky's schools and homes. The centers reside at schools where at least 20 percent of the students receive free meals. Centers help families obtain reliable health and child care, among other things. Each facility is tailored to specific community needs. (SM)

Identifies nine major state educational strategies with specially targeted rural assistance goals. Categorizes the strategies according to their primary intent and state policy instruments used in implementation. Suggests that this classification will further the assessment of the equity, adequacy, responsiveness, and appropriateness of the…