Finding funds to build and renovate facilities is a major hurdle for public charter schools because most state laws do not provide charter schools with the full amount of state and local funding that other public schools receive. Although an increasing number of states are passing laws to address charter school facility funding gaps, inequities…

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, signed into law by the president just over six months ago, represents a rare opportunity for governors to leverage federal education funds largely unencumbered by prescriptive federal rules. The bill appropriated $16.2 billion for K-12 education, and Congress astutely set aside $3…

A state department of education (SDE) served by the Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) at SEDL requested information regarding state use of schoolwide, large-scale professional learning communities (PLCs). Specifically, the SDE staff wanted to know the following with respect to PLC work in other states: (1) Are PLCs state-mandated through…

A decade after Kinsey published his famous studies on sexuality, a special legislative committee in Florida targeted gay and lesbian teachers in an investigation that led to the dismissal and loss of credentials for scores of educators. The Florida purge of 1959-1964 remains without parallel in educational history in terms of its intensity and…

A study of state coordinated research and development efforts for education in Florida public schools was conducted in response to proviso language in the 1976 Legislature's Appropriations Act. The study concluded that the continuation of campus laboratory schools could be justified only if their central mission became that of research and high…

Presented is the first of a two volume series of 1974 Florida Department of Education guidelines to assist local school districts in developing appropriate educational procedures for all exceptional children and youth. Purposes of the guidelines are given to include compliance with 1968 State legislation, provision for legal use of funds, a means…

I examine the state policy context of implementing an initiative that transforms the training and role of today's school counselors. This is essentially a story of political process. Like the implementation of many initiatives, the Transforming School Counselor Initiative (TSCI) is a process of gaining support and then institutionalizing a…

Outlines processes by which the Florida Department of Education, as a result of official state policy, provides services to computer-using educators in public schools in such areas as courseware selection and evaluation, distribution of computing materials, inservice training, programing planning and development, hardware selection and purchase,…

The study was undertaken to investigate the "1202 Commission" established in 1972 by public law, with respect to the implications for Florida Technological University. Information was gathered through interviews and correspondence with members of the Florida Department of Education, Governor's Office, Board of Regents of the State…

This chapter evaluates Florida legislation establishing school advisory committees and is intended to improve understanding of both the potential and the problems of school advisory committees. It begins by examining advisory committees across the nation. It then turns to an analysis of school advisory committees in Florida. The report on…

Online learning holds promise for providing new educational opportunities to a wide range of students across the country. The rapid expansion of K-12 online learning, however, threatens to outpace the development of appropriate state-level policies that serve to fulfill the promise. As the National Association of State Boards of Education warned…

The major distinctions between evaluation and research are examined, the chief differences being the intent and type of criteria against which judgments are made. Conceptualization of the evaluation process in higher education is discussed on two levels. A collection of nine similes for understanding evaluation is examined in terms of major…

This case study describes and interprets the process through which State-level policy decisions are made for the public schools of Florida, and focuses on the people, agencies, and processes involved in the policymaking. After brief treatments of the socioeconomic environment and the political culture within which education takes place, the…

Reviews precedents, at the state level, to the movement for education reform. Reports, by year and state, on first reactions to reform. Outlines topics touched by state reform efforts, summarizes unifying themes, and predicts the future of reform. Includes a table of states requiring testing for initial certification of teachers. (IW)