Legislation and policy lead to action. In the absence of law or policy, situations are addressed on a case-by-case basis or they are sometimes ignored. Legislation and policy become extremely important when they relate to groups that have traditionally been marginalized, such as students with disabilities or students with gifts and talents, and…

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…

The goal of this manual is to provide guidance in the evaluation of educators, highlight critical components of effectiveness training, and offer opportunities for professional growth. The term "educator" includes teachers, all professional and temporary professional employees, education specialists, and school administrators/principals.…

This publication is a resource book for Pennsylvania educators and those providing services to homeless children and families. It presents five models for effective coordination between schools and homeless shelters. The five models are those that have been developed in the following: (1) a large urban school district; (2) two medium size urban…

Designed for middle school through high school students, this unit contains eight lesson plans that focus on Pennsylvania state law. The state lessons correspond to lessons in the volume, "Antidote: Civic Responsibility. Drug Avoidance Lessons for Middle School & High School Students. Developed to be presented by educators, law student,…

Efforts of educational interest groups to defeat merit pay for Pennsylvania teachers during 1983-1986 are explored in this case study. Political systems theory and allocative theory provide the conceptual framework. Deutsch's (1973) outline of variables that affect the course of conflict was used to organize indepth personal interviews and a…

A national survey revealed that 13 states have created legislation to assist financially distressed schools. Focusing on two states, Indiana and Pennsylvania, the report outlines different methods they have developed to deal with financially distressed schools. In Pennsylvania a distressed school district is taken over by the state, whereas in…

This manual, an update of the 1979 publication, "Pennsylvania Guidelines for Student Discipline," is intended for use by Pennsylvania school districts as they review or revise their student discipline codes. It presents a structure for responses to student misconduct, which lists student misbehaviors by type and assigns appropriate…

This booklet presents a method of teaching the history of labor unions in a creative and interesting manner. The labor pioneers presented in this booklet have been chosen with the thought that they would provide inspiration for young people who are studying the 300 years or more of Pennsylvania history. These laborers, who came from the ranks of…

This study collected data pertinent to instructional effectiveness at the secondary educational level with the population of students enrolled under the Pennsylvania Higher Education Equal Opportunity Act (ACT 101) which provides financial assistance to post secondary institutions serving academically disadvantaged students through tutoring and…

This handbook details methods Pennsylvania school districts might adopt in order to meet State attendance regulations. Following a brief introduction, a list of general topic references in the law is given as an aid to awareness of the variety of issues addressed by statute and regulation. Next, guidelines are presented for developing school…

This publication provides information and guidelines on the way Pennsylvania school boards should meet and conduct business under Act 84 of 1986 (the Sunshine Act) and Act 20 of 1993. The first section provides a brief history of the passage of the Sunshine Act, which mandates an open-meetings statute for public agencies. The second section offers…

Individual members of state legislatures wield the greatest influence in state level policy formation. This was one of the findings of a study that identified the power and influence context of state-level policymaking. Data were gathered from six states (Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Illinois) using an instrument…

This manual was developed by a project to create a model program that integrates basic skills instruction with requirements of welfare reform, and the project's final report describes activities taken to develop the manual. The report details the problem, goals, procedures, objectives met and not met, and an evaluation. The manual is designed to…

Discusses the development of Pennsylvania's Information Technology Education for the Commonwealth (ITEC) program, which was mandated by legislation in 1984. Describes some of the activities of the 14 Regional Computer Resource Centers (RCRCs) which were created by ITEC to provide computer education to Pennsylvania teachers. (TW)