By providing early access to education, early childhood and community-based programs are helping to close the achievement gap prevalent among children from impoverished homes.

This report examines state-sponsored early intervention programs whose aims are to assist educationally and economically disadvantaged students to plan for postsecondary education. It highlighs common policy mechanisms and discusses practices that have become established over time. It highlights 17 programs in 12 states that are leaders in early…

Two provisions in Title I--maintenance of effort (MOE) and supplement not supplant (SNS)--are designed to limit the extent to which federal funds can be used to replace state and local resources. To assess the quality of oversight of these provisions, the General Accounting Office (GAO) determined how Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana,…

Reported is a study of child abuse legislation and state programs relating to principles of reporting abuse in the eight southeastern states in Region IV (Georgia, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Mississippi). Chapter 1 introduces the report and includes research objectives, format, and methods of data…

The Florida State Legislature and the Department of Education have generally addressed the 1997 recommendations of the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) for improving student performance in high-poverty schools. Recent legislation and department actions have established a stronger foundation for ensuring that…

Preschool is not a new idea, at least not for disadvantaged children. The Head Start program, which originated in 1965, sought to give poor preschool-aged children the skills they would need to succeed in school. Head Start currently reaches half of eligible 4-year-olds and a smaller number of younger children. What is new is the emergence of…

To address the issues of student recruitment and retention in Florida, a three-year research study was conducted. The three phases of the study sought the following: (1) to describe barriers to recruitment and retention of disadvantaged, unemployed, underemployed, out-of-school youth as perceived by students, teachers, counselors, and…

This document presents Florida's application for continued funding of its project for the education of homeless students under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act. The report is divided into four sections. Section I, "Application," consists of the request and rationale for continued financial support, and a summary of actions…

This report presents an evaluation of Florida's College Reach-Out Program (CROP) and data on the 1992-93 cohort of institutions and students that the program serves. CROP is a state-wide program designed to increase the number of students successfully completing postsecondary education by providing academic enrichment opportunities and career…

This report presents an evaluation of Florida's College Reach-Out Program (CROP) and data on the 1991-92 cohort of institutions and students which the program serves. CROP is a state-wide program designed to increase the number of students successfully completing postsecondary education by providing disadvantaged students in grades 6 through 12…

The Enterprise Florida Jobs and Education Partnership has taken actions to resolve issues raised in a previous report. The legislature has expanded the partnership's work force development (WFD) role; assigned it a role in implementing the state's welfare-to-work program; and established additional incentive funding for WFD program outcomes. The…