Governments are increasingly publishing information about the performance of the services they provide, in part to help citizens hold their elected representatives accountable for government service outcomes. Yet there is little evidence concerning the influence of information about government service performance on voter behavior. This paper…

This report, based on a winter/spring 2013 survey of 40 Common Core State Standards-adopting states, examines state education agency (SEA) officials' views on the federal role in implementing the standards. The report finds that, although a direct federal role in implementing the Common Core State Standards has been controversial, a majority of…

In this study, federal court opinions and writings of legal scholars, spanning 63 years of establishment clause jurisprudence in the US federal courts were analysed in an effort to determine dominant trends in judicial philosophy that are of significance to science educators. The study's findings suggest that the dominant legal theory underpinning…

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…

U.S. school districts have taken widely varied approaches to reopening public schools for the 2020-2021 school year. The divergence stems from the highly localized approach to both schooling and addressing the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and differences in COVID-19 transmission rates among communities. To develop a national…

Preschool for All (PFA) is a part-day (2.5 hours for up to five days a week) early childhood education program for 3- and 4-year-olds in Illinois. The program is voluntary to families and is designed to be a high-quality preschool option for all children--especially those at risk of academic failure. PFA was implemented in 2006 and is free to…

Part of a larger effort initiated by the Children's Defense Fund through project Child Watch, a national survey was made to obtain information about the effects of deregulating day care programs. Each state licensing agency was asked to submit a copy of current day care standards and to respond to questions concerning licensing changes since 1980.…

Research was conducted in the literature of librarianship to answer basic questions concerning the state role, legal base, and organizational framework related to the development of public library services. The study began with the assumption that state government bears a major responsibility for providing leadership and fiscal support to insure…

State government is taking a more active role in defining field experiences and requiring input from professional and consumer groups. It is also monitoring the programs and practices of teacher education programs more actively. (Author/IRT)

This paper discusses some alternatives to the Federal Interagency Day Care Requirements (FIDCR) including the feasibility of developing state standards for certification of federally-supported day care. Section I describes briefly the background and political context of current federal policies concerning day care regulation. Section II discusses…

Trends described in the planning and management of block grant programs are based on 13 states' implementation of seven block grants: (1) alcohol, drug abuse, and mental health services; (2) community services; (3) education; (4) low-income home energy assistance; (5) maternal and child health services; (6) preventive health and health services;…

This report presents, discusses, and analyzes major findings of a 1981 survey on school health education conducted by the Education Commission of the States (ECS). The purpose of this study is to document state level support for activities in school health education. The survey focuses on the state education agency's role in the development of…

The federal government has no constitutional mandate relating to education, and must deal with established institutions and private accrediting agencies. Federal-aid-to-education legislation implies that in order to be eligible for benefits, institutions must be accredited by nationally recognized, nongovernmental accrediting organizations, which…

This report contains information relevant to policies for child day care regulation in California. An introductory section of the report briefly provides background information on the development and goals of the California Day Care Licensing Task Force, summarizes policy recommendations, and defines the terms used in the report. Separate…

Presents results from a survey of state higher education agencies in the North Central Region regarding current requirements on assessment, the history of assessment requirements, definitions/terminology, communication of expectations, evaluation of effectiveness of the requirements, and state and accrediting agency cooperation. (DMM)