In 2007, the U.S. Department of Education commissioned WestEd to develop a guide on using quality authorizing to promote high-quality charter schools. At the time, notions about how authorizers could contribute to the existence of such schools were in their infancy, and the publication, which profiles the oversight practices of eight selected…

This networking guide is intended to encourage public agencies and the private sector throughout Maryland to share information, concerns, and strategies with one another regarding teenage pregnancy and parenting. The first section, a summary of local-level activities regarding teenage pregnancy and parenting, emphasizes efforts undertaken in…

Although the belief is strong in human service organizations that services should be coordinated to permit the resolution of the client's total problems, there is no consensus on what works best. To provide federal and state agency planners with information about research, trends, and issues in coordinating youth services at the state level, a…

The Interagency Plan for Children with Special Needs for Maryland residents has three major purposes: (1) to set priorities for developing or expanding services required by special needs children and their families; (2) to ensure that resources targeted for special needs children are administered effectively by increasing interagency coordination…

This handbook is designed to assist local boards of education, postsecondary educational institutions, and local advisory councils (LACs) in establishing LACs on vocational-technical education. (LACs are a mandatory prerequisite for receiving Federal funds in support of local vocational-technical education programs, services, and facilities.)…

This guide provides Maryland teachers with information regarding how to evaluate and improve service-learning. Seven suggested practices for school-based service learning were derived from interviews with 80 Maryland teachers actively engaging their students in service learning. These seven best practices, which might provide a framework for…

This report of a 2-year study on public university responsiveness to academic and vocational reforms in public K-12 schools and community colleges focuses on: (1) how state universities respond to curricular experiments, and (2) the difficulties reformers encounter with universities. The report presents a brief summary of previous progressive…

The potential for college-public school partnerships and issues of faculty workload, incentives, and rewards were assessed by an advisory task force. Six areas of possible cooperation were identified: responding to teacher shortages, improving the transition to college, providing tutoring and other volunteer services to public school students,…

The Interagency Committee for Children was formed by three Maryland government agencies: the Department of Human Resources, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and Department of Education. Committee goals are to develop services for children and families and provide a more coordinated service system for special needs children and youth. This…