Examines the process of awarding federal grants for education programs, including application procedures, terms and conditions of awards, required reports and monitoring, and the issue of the accountability of the administering agency and of grantees. (SK)

The Government Performance And Results Act requires all federal agencies to manage their activities with attention to the consequences of those activities. Agencies must state clearly what they intend to accomplish, identify the resources required, and report their progress to Congress. The Act calls for improved effectiveness of all TRIO…

This chapter discusses the federal government's role in strengthening accountability for student performance under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). NCLB represents a major legislative expansion of the role of the federal government in elementary and secondary education, and it has had significant implications for federal-state…

Discusses the federal regulation process, federal/grantee relations, and report requirements, particularly the Personnel Activity Report system. Believes there is room for negotiation with respect to the form and format of documentation that will satisfy the government's requirement for accountability and the school's desire for less paperwork.…

The reauthorization of the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act" ("ESEA") as amended by the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" ("NCLB") relied on two notable policy instruments to improve education: accountability and flexibility. "NCLB" complements accountability with several new flexibility…

Public debate about school choice is often polarized between those who favor and oppose total free markets in education. However, the serious intellectual work on choice focuses on more moderate alternatives that involve a mixture of public and private accountability. A regulated market model of educational accountability would mix government…

The purpose of this doctoral project was to conduct a policy analysis of two federal laws affecting public education today-- the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004. The common themes of both pieces of legislation and the congruent and the incongruent mandates required by each law were…

This volume contains the technical paper prepared by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare (DHEW) to give additional data and more detailed analysis of materials used to study the administration of the Federal Interagency Day Care Requirements (FIDCR). This study was part of a larger project to investigate two questions: Is the Federal…

This essay reviews the history of and reasons for the federal government's reluctance to enforce standards for day care quality. It is argued that the federal government must at least assure that the day care it subsidizes is not detrimental to children. Several revisions in the existing federal standards and the mechanisms for enforcing them are…

As reauthorization of the Higher Education Act is considered, two controversial issues influence the debate: (1) the escalating costs of higher education; and (2) differential regulation of institutions based on measures of their performance. In the current economy, financial aid should allow students to consider alternatives to four-year…

Funding changes for vocational education research and development under the Education Amendments of 1976 are explained and the probable impact of these changes is discussed. (MF)

The rush to regulation has made college and university presidents and other campus officials less accountable for every phase of campus activity. As state boards and federal agencies transfer decision making from institutions to higher levels, they disperse the authority and accountability that they have sought to foster. (MLW)

Reviews past extension reporting systems--Extension Management Information System, Narrative Accomplishments Reporting System, and Program Planning and Reporting System--and the mandates of the new Government Performance and Results Act. Highlights potential conflicts among the information needs and quality indicators of local, state, and federal…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is a federal education law that was passed in 2001 with the laudable but challenging goal of closing the achievement gap between minority and white students and improving academic achievement among all students. To that end, NCLB has held states, school districts, and individual schools to impossibly high standards of…

This white paper examines the roles that various levels of government play through legislation, policy, and other initiatives that support quality alternative education programs to reconnect youth to education and the workplace. It raises issues for policymakers at all levels to consider in facilitating the development of expanded alternative…