Creating smart, coherent education policy is painstaking work; there are technical, budgetary, and political challenges at almost every turn. But it is some of the most important work that state leaders can undertake. As Ohioans prepared to elect a new governor in late 2018, we at the Fordham Institute began rolling out a set of policy proposals…

Nationally, families of color--particularly African American and American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN)--are over-represented in child welfare systems. These families also tend to have worse outcomes--such as children more likely to be removed from their homes, less likely to receive family preservation services, and in the case of African…

This article documents the wide variation in terminology used by the U.S. Department of Education and the 50 states in gathering data on deaf and hard-of-hearing children and in determining eligibility for services. Recommendations for achieving uniformity in defining and applying the terms "deaf" and "hard of hearing" are…

This review identifies options for developing alternate assessments for students with disabilities who are unable to participate in the general district and state assessments used for accountability purposes. It notes that students with disabilities are often excluded from these educational assessments used for accountability and urges development…

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (Simpson-Rodino Act) has many negative consequences for the city of New York (New York). Major provisions that will affect the city include the following: (1) sanctions on employers of illegal aliens; (2) an amnesty program for illegal aliens; (3) a 5-year limitation on newly amnestied aliens'…

Efforts of the Department of Education (ED) to simplify the Pell Grant formula by reducing the number of data elements used to calculate awards (i.e., data element reduction) are evaluated. A framework is developed to assess the critical characteristics of individual data elements, to eliminate elements from the formula, and to develop proposals…

The extent to which colleges are complying with the 1982-1983 Pell Grant validation requirements was assessed. Fall 1982 financial aid data were drawn from a representative sample of 3,490 Pell Grant recipients at 317 colleges that are part of the Regular Disbursement System. Key findings show: (1) the vast majority of institutions collect the…

Hearings on the charging of processing fees to low- and middle-income students who apply for federal student assistance under Title IV of the Higher Education Act are presented. Attention is focused on whether the Department of Education's decision to eliminate the "check-off" option from the forms provided by the major processors…

This report presents data on the student composition of California higher education in graphs and text. The information focuses on the period from 1989 to 1993 though trends going back to 1980 are also displayed. The data are from a variety of sources including the Educational Testing Service, the California Postsecondary Education Commission, the…