Under the 1998 reauthorization of Title II of the Higher Education Act, the secretary of education is required to issue annual reports to Congress on the state of teacher quality nationwide. "Meeting the Highly Qualified Teachers Challenge" is the inaugural report on this important issue. The 1998 reauthorization also established a…

When Congress passed the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, it included Section 504 which forbade discrimination against persons with disabilities by programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance, which included virtually every institution of higher education, except the U.S. military academies and a few small religious schools. This was…

The 1988 law reorganizing Maryland higher education requires the Maryland Higher Education Commission to develop and periodically update a statewide plan for postsecondary education. The purpose of the plan is to guide the development and improvement of postsecondary educational opportunities in Maryland. On April 27, 2004, a blue-ribbon panel,…

Many providers are keen to implement the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), seeing this as an opportunity to further improve the experience of disabled learners. However, the DDA Part 4 raises many issues about the ways in which education providers encourage a learner to disclose an impairment in order to make adjustments,…

The National Science Foundation Act of 1950 directs the Foundation "to initiate and support basic scientific research and programs to strengthen scientific research potential and science education programs at all levels." NSF achieves its unique mission by making merit-based awards to researchers, educators, and students at approximately…

This report discusses the State of California's fiscal condition and guides the reader through numerous factors that will influence State spending on higher education in the coming fiscal year. It also offers insight and observations on challenging policy decisions the Governor, the Legislature, and higher education leaders face in the coming…

Academic freedom has, since 2004, increasingly made the headlines of the higher education papers and journals in the United Kingdom. New legislation has added to the confusion in terms of what law applies and what might apply. This article provides an updated analysis of this confused area. (Contains 14 notes.)

This publication is designed to encourage and assist those who seek to improve school systems through the improvement of school laws. This is a revised edition of "Know Your School Law," Bulletin 1952 No. 1, by Dr. Ward W. Keesecker, and is part of the Office of Education program to develop a clearinghouse of timely and useful information on…

Due to the increasing complexity in the financial aid process and the movement of available financial aid up the economic scale, poor people and minorities have less access to college, including engineering programs. Some impediments are lack of access to knowledge about college, increasing complexity and up-front costs in the application process…

One model for effective workforce development--long-term, comprehensive career pathways combining post-secondary education, customized training and paid work experience--is an expensive one, frequently difficult for workforce agencies or postsecondary institutions employing traditional policies and practices to implement. But, by rethinking the…

As we begin the run up to the January 2005 Texas legislative session, a number of important education reform issues are on the table. Perhaps the greatest challenge will involve measures to increase revenues to cover state-supported functions, including of course education. [This document originally appeared in the "IDRA Newsletter", however some…

This article discusses the recent progress made by three states--Indiana, Kentucky, and New Jersey--toward statewide goals to improve transfer and articulation. Legislation and/or policies that prompted the initiative in each state are presented, along with any additional policies and organizational structures that were implemented to promote…

Policy makers really sounded off this spring about public education. State legislators derided No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for taking away state prerogatives in setting education policy and the National Governors Association essentially tell federal officials to stay away from repeating NCLB at the high school level. President Bush tried to move…

Since the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act was signed into law in October, 2001, library administrators have become increasingly concerned that staff-especially student employees-continue to protect the confidentiality of patron records. Administrators have also become increasingly concerned that when law enforcement officials provide paperwork giving them…

This account of an academic lawsuit qualifies as a horror story. A mediocre minority student abuses civil rights and ADA protections to win a massive monetary award against his school on the flimsiest of evidence. Jaded lawyers for the state university represent powerless faculty defendants in court, torpidly allowing the jury to throw 50 years of…