First launched in April 2009, the Common Core State Standards Initiative was conceived to identify and develop college- and career-readiness standards that address what students are expected to know and be able to do when they have graduated from high school. The initiative introduced the final version of the standards in June 2010, and by…

This review traces the evolution from 1971 to the present of a national technical assistance (TA) program to support the creation, expansion, and improvement of services for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers with special needs. From its beginning as a TA resource for demonstration projects, to linking outreach projects' expertise with state…

This report presents the deliberations of the Southeast Regional Advisory Committee (RAC), one of 10 RACs established by the U.S. Department of Education, identifying educational challenges across the six states in the region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina. Committee deliberations took place May 23,…

The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center was charged by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs from October 2001 through September 2006 to develop, implement, and evaluate an approach to technical assistance (TA) that would result in sustainable systems change in state early intervention and…

"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…

Research indicates that state pre-k programs with higher teacher qualification requirements improve children's school readiness so states get the most out of their investment in early education. This 2010 report, authored by Marisa Bueno, Linda Darling-Hammond and Danielle Gonzales, reviewed research on training for pre-k teachers and concluded…

"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…

This paper responds to a request asking for a Response to Intervention (RtI) background information and a scan of what states are doing in this area. This paper presents summaries that provide basic information about the status of state RtI initiatives in each of the southeastern states. The information was collected from State Education Agency…

In response to a directive from the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education (ED), the Southeast Regional Advisory Committee (SE RAC) provides an assessment of the technical assistance needs of educators in the Southeast Region. This RAC is one of 10 such committees appointed by the Secretary to conduct an education needs assessment over the…

This descriptive report examines the strategies of the six Southeast Region states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina) to improve high school graduation rates and student achievement and to increase the number of students leaving high school with the skills and knowledge necessary for the twenty-first…

This paper presents a profile of North Carolina's Star Rated License System prepared as part of the Child Care Quality Rating System (QRS) Assessment Study. The profile consists of several sections and their corresponding descriptions including: (1) Program Information; (2) Rating Details; (3) Quality Indicators for Center-Based Programs; (4)…

The purpose of this document is to identify the features of four successful collaborative partnerships between state education agencies (SEAs) and parent training and information centers (PTIs) and describe how these collaborative partnerships are improving SEA outcomes on Indicator B8 of the state performance plans (SPPs)--i.e., "Percent of…

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) documents dimensions of quality in undergraduate education and provides information and assistance to colleges, universities, and other organizations to improve student learning. Its primary activity is annually surveying college students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational…

Questionnaire responses from 702 agricultural producers who actively use the North Carolina Agricultural Extension Service (NCAES) and whose farming activities produce at least $10,000 annually revealed perceptions of the current and future capacity of the NCAES to deliver state-of-the-art technological information and the relationships between…

This document is North Carolina's response to Turning Points: Preparing Youth for the Twenty-first Century, a national report by the Carnegie Council Task Force on Young Adolescents. Turning Points urged state governments to build consensus and strengthen the capacity of local communities to improve middle grade schools. This document responds by…