"Getting poor kids out of failing schools" sounds like an altruistic cause most Americans support. However, one policy mechanism utilized to achieve that result, parental choice vouchers, has a checkered past. This descriptive analysis explores the policy-bubble created when state legislators eschewed their constitutional responsibility…

Approximately 15 states are changing their policies to give school districts more flexibility in acquiring content. They have changed laws or policies or have bills pending in state legislatures to redefine "textbooks". Most of those changes are similar to the approach Indiana took in its new law: a "textbook" is not only a…

Many parents critical of public education have removed their children from public schools and are schooling them at home. Home schooling has generated a number of lawsuits. Controversies have arisen over the definitions of "school" and of "equivalent instruction," parents' qualifications to teach, and religious exemptions from…

This monograph compiles and analyzes court cases and due process hearings related to the identification and provision of services for gifted and talented youth, with special focus on the state of Indiana. Federal legislation related to the gifted commenced with the National Defense Education Act, followed by the 1969 amendments to the Elementary…

Describes the Northwest Ordinance as a vision for self-government and discusses the conflict between William Henry Harrison and Jonathan Jennings in the newly formed Indiana Territory. Elaborates on how statehood in Indiana was achieved and what status slavery assumed in Indiana. (BSR)

Describes how the Indiana library community defeated a "Speaker's bill" in the Indiana House of Representatives that threatened public library interests. Topics addressed include the introduction of the bill, lobbying, and arguments against the bill. (SLW)

There has been a continuing drama over the unanswered question of whether students with disabilities deserve a high school diploma. Currently, a student is awarded a high school diploma if he or she meets local standards and if he or she passes the state's competency test of if his or her passage of the Indiana Standardized Test of Educational…

Reviews two approaches to educational finance reform: one state-initiated (Indiana's 1993 problem-driven school-funding formula), the other federally initiated (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act). Applies lessons from these two approaches to current state efforts to reform local public schools. (Contains 16 references.) (PKP)

Argues against perpetuating misinformation in this technological age, as illustrated in recent Indiana legislation mandating that selected historical writings be included in school library collections; among documents listed is a letter from an Indian chief which has been proven to be fictitious. (AEF)

This paper offers options to state policymakers interested in a P-16 system of educational reform. P-16 systems are attempts to create a coherent, flexible system of public education that stretches from preschool through the fourth year of college. The range of options for policymakers is broad and depends on existing state programs and plans. The…

This is a congressional hearing on how vocational and technical education and job training work together to better prepare workers for the 21st century workforce and on successful educational and job training activities and initiatives in Indiana (IN). Testimony includes statements from United States representatives (Howard P. "Buck"…

To generate a theoretical model for future interpretation, this study analyzed the 1985 Indiana Legislature concerning educational policymaking in public school funding. Previous research indicates that the classical rational actor model of policymaking inadequately addresses multidimensional pressures at work in state legislatures. A model is…