This report is intended to help governors, legislators, department secretaries, and advocates find information on ways to strengthen the structure and function of their existing cabinets, or create a new cabinet. The survey in this report is the nation's only survey of state child and youth policy coordinating bodies. The biennial survey assesses…

This paper presents the use of simple, outcome-based assessment tools to design and evaluate the first semester of a new introductory laboratory program created to teach green analytical chemistry using environmental samples. This general chemistry laboratory program, like many introductory courses, has a wide array of stakeholders within and…

The future cyber security workforce needs radio frequency identification (RFID) information systems security (INFOSEC) and threat modeling educational materials. A complete RFID security course with new learning materials and teaching strategies is presented here. A new RFID Reference Model is used in the course to organize discussion of RFID,…

This communication project provides an overview of public relations as seen through the communication arts. It is specifically focused to give law enforcement officers a general review of the practice of public relations, communication basics, and an understanding of the media. This course also provides the facilitator with multiple tools for…

Technology is a critical component in the success of any high-functioning school district, thus it is important that education leaders should examine it closely. Simply put, the purpose of a technology audit is to assess the effectiveness of the technology for administrative or instructional use. Rogers Public Schools in Rogers, Arkansas, recently…

Electronic writing offers the opportunity to be creative, impromptu, personal, even improper--unstructured, in other words--while academic writing traps them, catches them up in, an impersonal, uncreative, unimaginative, structured, mechanical--and perhaps even ultimately noncommunicative--experience.

Teacher shortages have been steadily increasing across the nation, particularly in the field of special education. According to analyses conducted by the Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education (COPSSE), reasons for this include the fact that veteran special education teachers are retiring at a faster rate than new teachers are being…

Teachers teach according to the way they learn; therefore, it is important to learn more about teachers' learning styles. According to Butler (1987), every teacher has a personal learning style. Teachers teach to their own learning style for many reasons (Stewart, Jones, & Pope, 1999). Teachers will teach to the way that they feel most…

Good fiscal news is arriving in state capitals: Tax revenues are finally starting to recover from their four-year swoon. The bad news: States face pressure to meet increasing health-care costs and to replenish rainy-day and other funds legislatures tapped in recent years. The bottom line is that schools will have to fight for significant increases…

This Kids Count report uses data from the Arkansas Department of Health to examine statewide trends in child safety. The findings suggested that in 1996, about one-third of child deaths in Arkansas were due to non-natural causes, with substantial racial and sex differences. Causes such as accidents, homicides, and suicides were more common for…

This report provides a descriptive analysis of the types and numbers of degrees conferred by the 13 state and independent institutions in Arkansas. Data are presented on: (1) degrees granted and other formal awards conferred by Arkansas institutions, 1979-80 through 1983-84; (2) degrees granted by subject field and type, 1983-84, for both state…

This KIDS COUNT special report focuses on the state of Arkansas' families, using state and national data to discuss demographic and economic changes facing families and the ways those changes affect children. The report discusses the increase in the number of children nationally and statewide growing up in homes without fathers, and notes that the…

In its 2003 report, School Survey on Crime and Safety, the National Center on Education Statistics (NCES) found that, during the 1999-2000 school year, 29% of schools reported having more difficulty with student bullying than with any other single discipline problem. A similar 2004 NCES report, Indicators of School Crime and Safety, found that, in…

This article presents the results from a survey that investigated the latest requirements and certification standards for school librarians in each state. In the survey, 42 report they require certification for K-12 library media specialists, meaning that school library candidates must have a bachelor's degree including coursework designed to…

The purpose of a state report card is to provide the general public and policymakers with information to assess and improve post secondary education in each state. "Measuring Up 2008" is the fifth in a series of biennial report cards that evaluates states in six overall performance categories: (1) Preparation for post-secondary education…