Americans depend largely on their community colleges to advance a form of democratic meritocracy in which all people--from dual-enrolled high-school and home-schooled students to traditional 18-year-old students to forty-something career changers, to retirees and octogenarians--have the opportunity to learn, grow, and excel. Yet despite the vital…

Discussed are early childhood policy issues and options for Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Section I explores federal and state directions in terms of levels of policy making, federal and state issues, and interested parties. Section II focuses on policy issues in its discussions of the political climate, long-term…

The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's depiction study of early childhood education and care programs in the Northwest and Hawaii documents the extent of program development in the region. In four sections, this report of the study: (1) describes the emerging structure of early childhood services, reviewing key findings and projecting…

An active participant in Indiana's and Washington's school-finance-reform process explains why one-size solutions pinch hardest on urban schools and how an issues-driven approach can keep states from being prematurely pushed to the "solution stage" of their deliberations. Child-centered approaches generally trump standards-based…

This proceedings reflects the content of a day-long conference designed to introduce selected publics to established models for economic stimulus with applicability to Washington state; provide a focus for the statewide legislative studies of education and high technology; and promote the Washington state community college system as the primary…

Explains history of federal-Indian relationship and changing tribal sovereignty rights. Describes treaty disputes and Indian-non-Indian conflicts in Washington, Wisconsin, and Oklahoma. Describes general nature of Indian alliances and support networks. Discusses possible roles for social scientists and social-science studies to mitigate Indian…

A work group consisting of representatives of public agencies, education, the health care industry, and unions and professional associations was formed to examine education and training issues related to the shortage of health care workers in Washington state. The group concluded that the shortage of available workers in many health care…

The state of Washington's workforce development system agenda focused in 2002 on these four goals: (1) closing a perceived job skills gap; (2) training incumbent and dislocated workers in order to prepare them for changes in the economy; (3) achieving wage progression for low income individuals; and (4) integrating workforce development programs…