About 13 percent of children aged 3 through 21 enrolled in public schools received special education services in school year 2015-16, and about 3 percent of children from birth through age 2 received special education services. Concerns about the difficulties identifying and evaluating children for special education have been raised by the media,…

California's alternative education options for youth vulnerable to dropping out of school have been established at different historical points and for different student age and target populations. For purposes of this brief, "alternative school" is defined as belonging to one of six legislatively authorized types of public (non-charter)…

International service learning courses, cultural immersion projects, and international disaster response teams have provided valuable aid, services, supplies and programs to trauma-impacted communities across the globe. Many colleges and universities support global learning and the creation of global citizens, and this ethic is reflected in many…

For several years, WestEd's Measure to Learn and Improve (MLI) project team has kept California state policy leaders informed about the statewide implementation of the California Academic Standards in English language arts and mathematics, by summarizing and disseminating results from the RAND Corporation's annual American Educator Panel (AEP)…

This cross-site analysis presents findings about the implementation, impact, and outcomes of the Young Adult Capacity Initiative (YACI), at 13 community-based organizations in New York City. These agencies received technical assistance and small incentive grants from the Fund for the City of New York Youth Development Institute (YDI) to build…

One increasingly popular way of supporting new teachers is through the use of mentoring. New teachers are often paired with mentors as one of a number of supports meant to aid new teachers as they begin their career. The various types of mentoring range from school based mentors assigned by the school to specialty mentors, such as math coaches.…

"Title III Accountability: Behind the Numbers" (2010) summarizes data reported by states in their Consolidated State Performance Reports (CSPRs) for 2004-05 through 2007-08. The CSPRs are annual reports required under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) that states use to submit information to the U.S. Department of…

"Title III Accountability and District Improvement Efforts: A Closer Look" (2010) summarizes findings from interviews with six Title III Directors and nine Title III district-level directors in the spring of 2009. States and districts were selected in order to collect information from some entities with a long history of serving English…

Financing school capital projects in New York State is a responsibility involving both local school districts and the state government. State building aid is provided through an aid ratio and approved expenditure formula. This formula has an equalizing effect among districts by explicitly providing an aid amount inversely proportional to property…

To increase attendance rates and to decrease dropout rates in New York State, the state legislature established the Attendance Improvement and Dropout Prevention Program in 1984. The State Office of the Comptroller audited the State Department of Education's administration of the program from July 1, 1992 through April 30, 1994. The Comptroller's…

With the creation of the Institute for Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Institute) in 2000, the National League of Cities (NLC) strengthened its capacity to assist municipal officials in their efforts to improve the quality of public education and develop programs and initiatives that help ensure the successful development of youth. As part of…

In order to achieve the expectations for children's learning stipulated by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, greater attention needs to be given to child care policy and funding. This report details a study examining strategies in seven states that have integrated early education program standards in child care, by directly tying standards to…

This final report describes activities and accomplishments of the New York Partnership for Statewide Systems Change 2000, a 5-year project to increase and improve inclusive educational services to New York State students with severe disabilities at the secondary level and students with serious emotional disturbance at the elementary and middle…