Meeting the health and wellness needs of students in school is a necessary and effective approach to reducing educational barriers for children and ensuring America's economic dominance in the 21st century. Since 1988, Medicaid has permitted payment to schools for certain medically necessary services provided to children under the Individuals with…

California's Kindergarten Readiness Act of 2010 established transitional kindergarten (TK), the first year of a two-year kindergarten program for students affected by the change in the birthdate cutoff for entry into kindergarten from December 2 to September 1. This brief, the sixth in a series highlighting findings from the "Study of…

The Department of Education (Department) is required to use negotiated rulemaking to develop proposed regulations for programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA). Under negotiated rulemaking, the Department works to develop the proposed regulations in collaboration with representatives of the parties…

Assuring that English language learners (ELLs) receive the services to which they have a right requires accurately identifying those students. Virtually all states identify ELLs in a two-step process. First, parents fill out a home language survey. Second, students in whose homes a language other than English is spoken and who therefore might…

In 2010, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Kindergarten Readiness Act into law, which changed the kindergarten entry age so that children must turn 5 by September instead of December to enroll. The new grade level was put into place to promote school readiness for California's youngest learners. It also established a new grade…

The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 generally restricted immigrants' eligibility for welfare to those who had naturalized. By increasing the salience of naturalization, the law provides a unique opportunity to examine how social and economic contexts of reception influence immigrants' pursuit of citizenship. This paper summarizes instrumental-legal…

Same-sex marriage, barely on the political radar a decade ago, is a reality in America. How will it affect the well-being of children? Some observers worry that legalizing same-sex marriage would send the message that same-sex parenting and opposite-sex parenting are interchangeable, when in fact they may lead to different outcomes for children.…

In this article, the authors review the way in which the Victorian government has responded to the inclusion of students with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream schools, and consider what further efforts could be made to improve inclusive educational practices. Key measures introduced by the state education authority in relation to the…

The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) restructured the delivery of youth services in the workforce system. It introduced several new features, including a focus on more comprehensive year-round services, the addition of youth development elements, mandatory youth councils, Youth Opportunity Grants to distressed areas, and a requirement…

The overlapping coverage and effects on education services and related access issues associated with the 1973 Rehabilitation Act (Section 504), the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are extraordinary. This article explains eligibility, scope of protection, and extensive architectural…

Contemporary schools are faced daily with the challenge of identifying the instructional needs of migrant learners who are having notable difficulty learning. Given this reality, it is important to consider contemporary questions of special and general education practices. To explore these questions, this article draws from observation in a…

The ways in which legal change affect institutions of higher education are examined, focusing on three specific legal issues: the residency status of a foreign student; faculty rights to inventions and discoveries; and racial harassment on campus. An implementation process model is recommended to measure the effects of policy implementation. (MSE)

Financial aid can encourage students to enroll in college and increase their odds of academic success. While the California community colleges (CCCs) have very low fees, which are waived for most low-income students, the additional expenses of books, supplies, transportation, housing, food and childcare can create significant financial barriers to…