Getting and keeping accreditation is critical for almost all colleges in the United States. Accreditation is third-party validation that a college meets minimum standards. Not only is institutional accreditation required for participation in federal student loan programs, but without accreditation, it is hard (if not impossible) to be authorized…

For many students with disabilities, exclusion from the general education classroom is common. Educational agencies are required to follow the policies mandated by IDEA. Educators need to understand how to meet needs of students with disabilities and follow the legal mandates as equitably and effectively as possible. They are required to implement…

This qualitative case study was designed to learn more about how the practices of instructional leaders support and monitor the implementation of Individual Education Plans (I.E.P.s) and influence teaching in inclusive classroom settings. It was designed to explore a sample of general educators' and administrators' perceptions about the challenges…

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) enforces, among other statutes, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. While Title IX is directed towards the prevention of discrimination in collegiate athletics, Title IX does not explicitly remedy only issues in college athletics. Rather, the statute's heart is a…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore how the principles of universal design can be implemented by faculty and course designers to help give all learners access to equivalent information. It describes how information communication technologies can create barriers to information access, particularly when course content is rich in…

The Mississippi Association of Independent Schools was born out of the turbulent years of the Civil Rights Era. "Plessy v. Ferguson" in 1896 had established the doctrine of separate but equal facilities, including schools. While the decision in "Brown v. Board of Education," handed down by the Supreme Court in 1954, ruled that…

School districts held an exclusive franchise on public education services until 1991, when Minnesota passed the first law permitting public charter schools. Charter schools are publicly funded, authorized by various agencies designated in public law, but independently managed. They operate outside district control, and most can draw students from…

Over the past 50 years, state legislatures have placed mandates on higher education institutions to lower attrition, thereby increasing student retention and completion. This study investigated and sought to understand the relationship between the Louisiana Granting Resources and Autonomy for Diplomas Act, or the LA GRAD Act (2010), and…

Bearing in mind the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, Louisiana's Steering Committee projected performance targets through the year 2014 for the important areas of: (1) Graduation with a Diploma; (2) Dropout Rate; (3) Placement, ages 6-21 and ages 3-5; (4) Achievement Performance Levels, and (5) Discipline. Annual gains were…

Hundreds of U.S. schools will supplement fire drills and tornado training next fall with simulations of school shootings. In response to the December shootings by an intruder at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, several states have enacted or are considering laws that require more and new types of school safety drills, more…

The Louisiana Program Plan for the Administration of Vocational Education calls for assessing the state's progress in meeting the sex equity purposes of the Carl Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act and evaluating the effectiveness of programs and activities supported by the need for sex equity. Criteria for selecting sex equity…

In 1992-93, Louisiana had many achievements toward sex equity in vocational education. As state enrollment continued to grow, many efforts were undertaken to increase sex equity in vocational programs and to increase the occupational success of groups targeted by the Carl D. Perkins Applied Vocational and Technology Education Act. Among…

This pamphlet contains guidelines for educational institutions that offer training to veterans and certain dependents and survivors of veterans, to keep them in compliance with present laws and regulations. Its intended audience includes veterans, schools, Department of Veterans' Affairs, Veterans' Administration (VA), and state approval…

Under the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 (P. L. 96-272), Congress outlined a case review system intended to assure that child welfare agencies deal directly with various aspects of child placement. The second of four volumes, this document presents case study descriptions of the hearings within the context of the case review…

Hearings on the enforcement of civil rights legislation in higher education and the impact of policies and litigation on compliance are presented. Efforts to desegregate and enhance historically-black state colleges are addressed. Louisiana's civil rights consent decree is outlined, with attention to: governance, student access, student financial…