National reports have raised concerns about the physical accessibility of public school facilities for people with disabilities. These facilities serve important roles as schools, voting locations, and emergency shelters, among other things. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to examine the physical accessibility of public school…

Improving low-achieving schools is a critical challenge facing urban education. Recent national policy shifts have pressed states to take an expanded role in school improvement efforts. In 2009, a federal grant competition called Race to the Top (RttT) compelled states to improve their capacity to implement ambitious education reform agendas.…

Early childhood teachers are rightly concerned with implementing a system that was, at least in the initial stages, designed with a different set of teachers in mind--teachers of older students who have standardized achievement data. In most states, policy, practices, and guidance for early childhood teachers are just now being developed or…

The "Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965" ("ESEA") is the nation's key policy driver for elementary and secondary education, shaping federal, state and district efforts to promote effective school systems and improve educational outcomes, particularly for students in high-poverty schools. The most recent…

This document explores the interaction between the Title I legal framework and selected state and local compensatory education programs (SCE). Specifically, it is concerned with: (a) whether the language of the Title I legal framework setting forth the basic local educational agencies (LEA) program requirements applicable to SCE programs is…

After a state-wide study, the Maryland Commission on Environmental Education submitted the final report to the Governor and the General Assembly. Embodied in the report were six recommendations for the future of environmental education in Maryland. The necessity for a strong public commitment by the Governor and members of the General Assembly was…

This document examines recent developments in strategic planning for employment, identifies key elements of strategic plans, examines issues to be addressed in implementing such plans, examines New Jersey's state plan in detail, and provides short sketches of the strategic plans for employment in six other states. Following an executive summary,…

Relations between the public and private sectors of higher education are discussed. In the first chapter, John W. Gardner provides a historical perspective to the recent conflict in some states between public and private colleges and universities. In addition to discussing the pluralism and diversity that have characterized U.S. colleges and…

This report contains specific recommendations from the Commission on Teacher Salaries and Incentives for the State of Maryland. It is recommended that salary levels for teachers should be comparable to those of other professions and there should be greater equity of salary levels among the 24 jurisdictions in the state. In delineating incentives…

Recognizing that unhealthy children cannot learn and that an uneducated child will become a drain on society, this report describes the efforts of the National Health and Education Consortium (NHEC) to promote collaboration among the health and education professions to improve the health of children. The report describes the creation and operation…

This study examined conflicting Federal directives and gaps in Federal education policy from the perspective of the local school district, with the objective of determining problem areas in Federal policies and practices and developing a set of recommendations for change. Five areas of policy, finance and administrative procedures were examined:…

Elements in the composition and process of higher education blue ribbon commissions that influence their effectiveness were studied. Blue ribbon commissions, which have been used as one type of statewide planning strategy, are defined here as commissions with (1) a predetermined life span; (2) authority established by the legislature and/or the…

This report assesses the extent of homelessness in Maryland. Data are provided in the following areas: (1) the number of homeless people; (2) causes of homelessness; (3) distribution of the homeless and characteristics of those sheltered; (4) shelter beds available; (5) what is needed to address the problems of homelessness; (6) the extent of the…

A recommendation is made by the presidents and chancellor of the four historically Black colleges and universities in Maryland that the goal of racial equality requiring the education of larger numbers of Blacks at all levels of higher education in a wide variety of fields--undergraduate, graduate, and professional--be kept at the forefront of the…