This topic paper details how dual and concurrent enrollment programs can help states overcome workforce readiness and postsecondary access and completion challenges and how governors can strengthen these programs by using their bully pulpit, agenda setting authority and budgetary authority to do so. It concludes with a number of examples of how…

While many Americans might agree on the importance of preparing young people for citizenship in a democracy, civic education has been in decline. Results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress show students across all grade levels have a less-than-adequate grasp of the skills and knowledge necessary to engage as citizens. In…

There is growing unease about suspension and expulsion of children at the preschool level. Preschoolers are expelled at three times the rate of K-12 students (Gilliam, 2005). Boys--particularly African-American boys--comprise a disproportionate number of these cases, a fact that has caused concern among parents, policymakers, and advocates alike.…

Response to intervention (RTI) is a framework for providing interventions and services at increasing levels of intensity until students succeed. The framework helps teachers and schools provide instruction and interventions matched to student needs, monitor progress frequently to guide decisions about changes in instruction or goals, and apply…

Discussed are early childhood policy issues and options for Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Section I explores federal and state directions in terms of levels of policy making, federal and state issues, and interested parties. Section II focuses on policy issues in its discussions of the political climate, long-term…

The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's depiction study of early childhood education and care programs in the Northwest and Hawaii documents the extent of program development in the region. In four sections, this report of the study: (1) describes the emerging structure of early childhood services, reviewing key findings and projecting…

Concerned with the impact of Title I, as national education policy on four mountain west states (Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana), this study concludes that Title I has not been internalized, integrated, or institutionalized in this region of the country or in any of the four individual states. The rejection of Title I policy rests on two basic…

The "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" examines what is arguably the single most powerful authority over the teaching profession: state government. This Montana edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the first of what will be an annual look at the status of state policies…

Detailed are early childhood education and care services in six Pacific and Northwestern States: Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Section I discusses the need for early childhood education and care in terms of the prevention of educational and social failure and the changing composition of the work force. Section II, which…