This policy study contributed to an understanding of the types of professional growth activities that improve teacher self-confidence to teach challenging subjects and helped determine the future allocation of resources relative to teaching secondary social studies in Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS), the eighth largest school district in…

On July 28, the Governor signed legislation making significant revisions to the 2009-10 state budget. The revised budget allocates $85 billion in State General Fund spending, down from the $92 billion in the budget approved by the Governor and Legislature in February. This budget revision also captures some savings from the just-completed 2008-09…

Reforms in American public education have not resolved the wide academic performance gap between students attending schools in poor, large, urban centers versus schools in wealthier areas. Aggregate performance outcomes on state achievement tests reveal that some school districts consistently outperform others, a few fluctuate over time but are…

In the UK, education is the third largest area of government spending (of which school spending has the largest share). Since 2000, school expenditure has increased by about 40 per cent in real terms for both primary and secondary schools (see Figure 1). The question as to whether such investment is worthwhile is of central importance. The…

As interest in expanding the number of high quality charter schools available to parents and students has grown, policy makers have increased their focus on identifying and providing support to new charter programs that have the potential to improve student outcomes and satisfy parent and student needs. Since 1994, the U.S. Department of Education…

Austin Independent School District allocated federal NCLB Title I, Part A funds to 68 school-wide campuses (52 elementary, 11 middle, and 5 high schools) where the percentages of low-income children ranged from 45% to 99%. Other funds were allocated to provide services district wide to students, staff, and families. This report summarizes Title I…

This study utilized Cameron's (1978) construct of organizational effectiveness to identify the relationship between the predictor variables of: (1) managerial strategy; (2) organizational culture; (3) change in the external environment; and (4) resource dependency, using causal modeling procedures. This construct is a theoretical framework that…

This paper applies the management science tool of break-even analysis to determine the costs of implementing an off-campus bachelor degree completion program at a four-year private liberal arts college. The first section describes break-even analysis which, in this application, is calculated by dividing the total annual cost for a cohort of…

A hearing was held on Senate Bill 335, the Emerging Telecommunications Technologies Act of 1993, a bill that requires the federal government to transfer 200 megahertz of spectrum to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for new technologies. Integral to this measure, a bipartisan effort, is a provision that will allow the FCC to use…

This report addresses the Florida Community College System's (FCCS) performance based on measures established by the General Appropriations Act. Discussed are: (1) FCCS' performance on the measures used in the performance-based budgeting (PBB) incentive fund; (2) improvements that can be made to the PBB incentive fund; and (3) changes to community…

Comprehensive school reform is a type of reform process directed at primary and secondary education that relies on the simultaneous change of all elements of a school's operating environment aligned with a central, guiding vision. This new approach was developed in response to the growing dissatisfaction with the traditional piecemeal reform,…

This booklet examines the subject of fresh water and the ways in which it affects every aspect of human life. The document includes an introduction and seven sections: (1) "Agriculture"; (2) "Transportation"; (3) "Culture"; (4) "Engineering"; (5) "Health and Domestic Use"; (6) "Politics and Economics"; and (7) "Industry." Inside each section is an…

Advocates instituting steps to ensure fairness in peer reviews in the awarding of federal grants and creating new standards for awarding grants in those cases where competition is not appropriate. (IRT)

The author suggests a plan by which British Universities and the national University Grants Committee might react positively to enforced economy in use of educational facilities. Under his space budgeting proposal, users would be credited with space entitlement and could bear the cost of extra space out of current budgets. (JT)

Causes and effects are examined for recent cuts in the budgets of the Office of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) and the National Institute of Education (NIE). Through interviews with agency executives the author finds new priority placed on selling themselves and their products to Congress. (JT)