The strengths and abilities children develop from infancy through adolescence are crucial for their physical, emotional, and cognitive growth, which in turn help them to achieve success in school and to become responsible, economically self-sufficient, and healthy adults. Capable, responsible, and healthy adults are clearly the foundation of a…

If Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney wins the November election, his ascension could endanger--or dismantle--key Obama administration education initiatives and lead to a slimmed-down and less activist U.S. Department of Education. Scaled back Education Department and cloudy prospects for Obama initiatives are among the scenarios. But…

The success of the United States in the 21st century will depend on the ideas and skills of its population. These have always been the nation's most important assets. As the world becomes increasingly technological, the value of these national assets will be determined by the effectiveness of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics…

The struggle to balance work responsibilities with family obligations may be most difficult for working parents of the youngest children, those five and under. Any policy changes designed to ease the difficulties for these families are likely to be controversial, requiring a careful effort to weigh both the costs and benefits of possible…

U.S. educators and policymakers are concerned about the poor performance of the public schools, particularly schools that serve students from low-income families. Although education is primarily a state function, the federal government also has a longstanding interest in improving education for disadvantaged students, and it targets funding to…

The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 expressly gave colleges, universities, and other nonprofit entities the right, which had previously been presumptively held by the federal government itself, to patent inventions resulting from federally funded research and development (R&D) activities they conduct. In the nearly three decades since the Bayh-Dole Act…

Describes the historical development of the United States Department of Education beginning in 1785 and explains the components that will comprise the new Department of Education. (LRA)

Is the United States getting it wrong when it comes to educating tomorrow's innovators in critical fields? It has been known for years that the only way to compete globally in information technology, engineering, nanotechnology, robotics and other fields is to give students the best educational opportunities possible. But do individuals have a…

Reviews the highlights of the Federal legislation relating to Adult Basic Education (ABE) in terms of the specific laws from 1964 to 1975, with a brief commentary on the social context of the legislation and makes recommendations for future ABE Federal legislation. (WL)

The purpose of this hearing was to examine the federal role in improving the effectiveness and coordination of sixty-nine Federal programs that are designed to help parents help their young children with child care and early education. Opening statements were delivered by Subcommittee Chairman Senator Lamar Alexander, Tennessee; Ranking Member…

Programs of vocational education focus on raising the productive capacity of individuals. Because of this commitment to human development, vocational education is a resource that can help solve many of the pressing economic problems facing our nation at this time. A federal investment in vocational education is in fact a very viable means of…

As a part of its ongoing mission, the President's Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) has completed an initial review of the Information Technology for the 21st Century (IT[squared]) initiative and its implementation plan put forward by the participating federal agencies. This letter conveys the initial conclusions of that review.…

This guide is designed to serve as a reference for community leaders in identifying key sources of support and actions to consider taking in the event of a prospective or actual mass layoff in their community. The guide is divided into four separate checklists of suggested actions. The first, and most detailed, section is directed to mayors,…

This is a report on the Symposium that accompanied the 15-16 May, 2007 meeting of the UNAIDS Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) on Education. The IATT Symposium provided an opportunity to address in some detail two selected problems that are critical to stemming the advance of HIV infection--areas that have had some attention, but remain insufficiently…

This document is the Interim Report on future directions for Federal support of research and development in high performance computing, communications, information technology, and the Next Generation Internet. This report provides a more detailed explanation of the findings and recommendations summarized by the President's Information Technology…