Basic career needs, management tasks, objectives, human development rationale, and implementation strategies for a career development education program are discussed in terms of the Minnesota Career Development Curriculum (CDC) project. Oriented toward teachers and counselors, the document contains six chapters: (1) The Challenge, presenting an…

The rural school district examined in this case study is the smallest of the five covered in this series, which is published in conjuction with a planning manual on declining enrollment. The principal issue in this Minnesota district is simply survival. Its initially small enrollment has shrunk even further, and enrollment projections indicate…

For over thirty years, portfolios have been used to help adult learners gain recognition for their prior learning and take greater control of their educational experiences. The portfolio has become a distinctive means of assessing such learning, serving as a meaningful alternative to conventional papers and standardized testing. This book provides…

Explains issues involved in establishing "charter schools," public schools set up by outside educators or others under a contract granted by some responsible public body. Elements of the Minnesota charter law are discussed. The idea of alternate sponsorship is critical to new and better ways of education. (SLD)

Words Work! is an approach to improving literacy outcomes for children through teacher development and parent engagement. In this article the authors describe the pilot phase of the project. The staff at Words Work! created an assessment system that aligns curriculum with assessment and collection of student data and teacher planning. Teachers use…

This report discusses forces that are shaping alternative approaches to the delivery of postsecondary education, particularly distance education and open learning. One of these forces is the ever-changing composition of the student body, whose demands are increasing and whose needs are becoming more disparate because of a more and more…

In May 1987, the Legislative Audit Commission for the State of Minnesota directed the Program Evaluation Division to examine noninstructional expenditures for elementary and secondary education. This report, the first of two, focuses on two questions: (1) Has the commitment of resources in Minnesota to instructional activities declined relative to…

Prepared for the state legislature, this document is intended to supply practical information to help law makers and educators better understand the planning processes and cooperative efforts that currently exist among the public schools in the 18 counties of southwest and central Minnesota. Parts One and Three describe the planning process that…

Three propositions related to how Minnesota should address the needs of young children and their families are presented and discussed briefly in this position paper. The propositions are: (1) The Minnesota Legislature should mandate county boards/Human Service Boards to assume the leadership role in coordinating and planning services to young…

Enrollment decline is a problem in the majority of Minnesota's school districts. Declining enrollment means that school administrators must plan for the financial difficulties arising from cutting budgets, reducing staff, closing buildings, and ending programs. Written to stimulate effective planning for declining enrollment, this manual…

A 1997 report estimates Minnesota needs to spend up to $4.5 billion to replace or improve its current educational facilities to meet the needs of its students in the future. This guide, designed to encourage and guide Minnesota school districts in enhancing student achievement and school-community partnerships, summarizes changes in laws and…

This document contains five monographs on correctional education in the United States and internationally. "Towards a Renaissance of Prison Education: International Preconference Symposium" (Carolyn Eggleston, Alice Tracy) reports on a joint symposium of the Correctional Education Association and the European Prison Education Association…

Minnesota divides its Title IV-E-IL allocation among three components of a statewide program titled Support for Emancipation and Living Functionally (SELF). SELF is a state-supervised, county-implemented program based on the premise that youth in substitute (foster) care are at significant risk of not making a successful transition to independent…

This report presents the opinions of the public on aspects of vocational and technical education in Minnesota as expressed in two public hearings. The report begins with an introduction that states the purpose of the public hearings and describes the format of the two meetings--one in the Twin Cities and one in Duluth. The following section is a…

There is some evidence that regionalism in higher education is emerging as a move toward a middle-ground position between strict institutional autonomy and stronger statewide coordination. Most observers of contemporary postsecondary education agree that the challenge of the next decade will be to find mechanisms for coordination that can achieve…