The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children in Texas and across the United States. The theme of this issue is IDRA's 45th Anniversary. Contents include: (1) Beginning with the End in Mind…

In 1887, Congress passed the Hatch Act, which formally established and provided a funding mechanism for agricultural experiment stations in each state and territory in the United States. The main purpose of agricultural experiment stations is to conduct agricultural research to meet the needs of the citizens of the United States. The objective of…

Digital inclusion is the ability of individuals and groups to access and use information and communication technologies. Not all members of a community benefit equally, and some communities have been left out altogether. This paper is a guide for fostering digital inclusion throughout the United States so that everyone can take advantage of…

This paper defines the concept of "improvement infrastructure" and "educational capital" for education, and it uses the case of the National Writing Project to develop an extended, data-based illustration of the design and generativeness of an improvement infrastructure. Since 1983 there have been multiple "waves" of…

A conference dealing with new enterprise and economic development initiatives today, Project NEED IT was designed to familiarize decision makers at all levels of the public, private, and educational sectors with the best new enterprise development projects being carried out in the United States today. During the conference, a series of papers and…

"The Achiever" is published semi-monthly during the school year for parents and community leaders. Each issue contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "New Policy that Helps States Better Assist Students with Disabilities"; (2) "The…

The "2005 Annual Report on Our Call to Action: Pursuit of Excellence" details the school system's significant progress toward meeting the identified milestones within each of the system's four strategic goal areas. The overall trend data continue to provide strong evidence of the effectiveness of our strategies and initiatives detailed…

This paper provides an overview of U.S. Department of Education programs authorized and funded under federal law. It includes information as well on the laboratories, centers, and other facilities funded by the Department that provide important resources for education. Each entry, which gives a brief overview of a program or resource, is listed…

"The Achiever" is published semi-monthly during the school year for parents and community leaders. Each issue contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "Study Yields First-Ever Data on K-12 Distance Education"; (2) "Putting Its Mark…

Several leaders in education have concluded that the United States should have some form of national achievement testing. Such tests are proposed as part of the "America 2000" education strategy. Believing that the experience of other countries will be useful to educators, policymakers, and concerned citizens, the National Endowment for…

This study examines past and present public issue forums and their role in the United States political system. The first chapter describes traditional forms of the public forum such as town meetings, neighborhood societies, lyceums, university extension programs, and settlement house networks. Analyzed next are the content, organization, and…

This guide is designed to assist volunteer tutors participating in an adult literacy program. Discussed in the first chapter are the meaning of the term functional literacy, the way in which we get meaning from print, and word identification skills. The next two sections deal with the history of literacy education in industrialized countries and…