Claims voters and elected officials allow only short-term solutions to financial problems and Florida fails to address need or adequacy. Explains sources of problems by describing state funding formula and discussing structurally inadequate tax base, new political and constitutional barriers to tax expansion, and sectoral rivalry for state…

Outlines state of educational funding in Georgia as of 1997, based on 1986 Quality Basic Education (QBE) Act, sources of local revenue, special grants based on sparsity and technology training, and special adjustments for training and experience, changing pupil counts, and consolidation. Discusses impact of capital outlay, optional local sales…

Evaluated a critical-thinking skills-training program for inservice training of classroom teachers in Georgia using responses from 700 questionnaires. Modeling of the strategy being taught, knowledge and enthusiasm of the trainers, and material relevance contributed to the high quality of training. More follow-up to the training would be extremely…

Describes developments in the state of South Carolina regarding school assessment and accountability. Outlines the mandates of South Carolina's Accountability Act of 1998 which focuses directly on "school accountability." (SR)

A 3-year study of welfare reform in Ohio's 29 Appalachian counties surveyed human services agencies, county commissioners, poor families, and employers and found that rural barriers to employment included lack of jobs, lack of child care, poor health, lack of education and job skills, and transportation problems. Many former welfare recipients…

Provides an overview of the development of cooperative library automation and connectivity in Idaho, including telecommunications capacity, library networks, the Internet, and the role of the state library. Information on six shared automation systems in Idaho is included. (LRW)

Investigates the impact of statewide database licensing for ProQuest on the users of public, school, and community college libraries in Washington State. Results of transaction log data and a study of how communities used information indicated that the database is used mainly in education and stressed the importance of implementation and promotion…

Describes approaches taken in Texas to bring about academic accountability for students of limited English proficiency through evaluating and reporting annually on their progress in English-language literacy and their learning of school subjects and by documenting the growth in successful performance on state tests by this special population. (SLD)

Children of Drug Court clients are at high-risk for substance abuse and other risk factors. This paper summarizes the results of a program needs assessment, process evaluation, and outcome evaluation from the Kentucky Drug Court Strengthening Families Pilot Program. Results indicated overall positive changes for families in the program.…

Surveys, interviews, and site visits were used to evaluate 10 years of tech prep in Michigan and identify models of excellent practice. Results showed community colleges lagging behind high schools in implementation. Best sign for the future is stakeholders' view that tech prep is not a program, but a process of educational reform. (SK)

Provides the information currently available on the types of programs offered for prekindergartners and the children served by or through local and state education agencies. Examines types of preschool services offered, families being served, and the implications for the field of early childhood. Expresses concern about settings of unknown…

Discusses Georgia's Principles of Educating Teachers (POET), a statewide initiative designed to encourage middle level teacher education reform. Explores the context of middle level education in Georgia, POET's role as part of a broader reform effort called the Georgia Initiative in Mathematics and Science (GIMS), the two-phase statewide processes…

Explains the importance of grants to libraries and describes the evolution of a grant in Washington State that was written to develop and fund early childhood programs. Discusses the role of public and tribal libraries; training for library staff; steering committee; statewide partnerships; community partnerships; and planning workshops. (LRW)

Because social policy making continues to devolve to the state level, social workers should understand how advocacy and policy making occur at that level. Interest groups active in the human services arena were surveyed and data were used to test a model of interest group effectiveness in four states. The independent variables were amount of…

The Ohio Substance Abuse Monitoring Network (OSAM) is designed to provide accurate, timely, qualitatively-oriented epidemiologic descriptions of substance abuse trends and emerging problems in the state's major urban and rural areas. Use of qualitative methods in identifying and assessing substance abuse practices in local communities is one of…