There is a growing call to reconsider current approaches to national and state assessment system policies and practices. State and local education agency leaders, educators, community leaders, and advocates have voiced concerns that current state assessment systems--defined primarily by end-of-year multiple-choice tests--are unable to meet…

One of the biggest challenges that states and local intermediaries face in setting up and scaling high-quality youth apprenticeships is gathering relevant, accurate and actionable data. High-quality data is an essential ingredient for a strong youth apprenticeship program because it equips state and local leaders to evaluate impact, monitor…

The "Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965" ("ESEA") is the nation's key policy driver for elementary and secondary education, shaping federal, state and district efforts to promote effective school systems and improve educational outcomes, particularly for students in high-poverty schools. The most recent…

In June 1989, the Kentucky Supreme court ruled the state's elementary and secondary school system unconstitutional. A Task Force on Education Reform provided recommendations to the General Assembly for reforming the educational system which resulted in the Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990. This act mandates the creation of a system of public…

Mental health services for children and adolescents from the states' perspective is the topic of this document. The introduction provides statistics on mental health service needs and utilization in this population, while highlighting underserved needs. The history of mental health services provision and funding is traced from isolated state…

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…

This paper discusses the potential of individual States for encouraging voluntary desegregation at the local level. Desegregation history and State strategies in five States--California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Washington--are closely examined. In all of the States studied, State laws provide the State agency with considerable…

Testimony on H.R. 3660, the Act for Better Child Care (ABC), is recorded in this document. The aim of the ABC is to lay a foundation for comprehensively addressing the shortage of child care by providing federal support that will enable states to ensure the availability, affordability, and safety of child care. Testimony concerned: (1) the need…

"The ERIC Review" is published three times a year and announces research results, publications, and new programs relevant to each issue's theme topic. This issue explores systemic education reform via an overview of systemic reform, a description of the Kentucky example, and an article, "Roadmap to Restructuring" (David T.…

This paper offers options to state policymakers interested in a P-16 system of educational reform. P-16 systems are attempts to create a coherent, flexible system of public education that stretches from preschool through the fourth year of college. The range of options for policymakers is broad and depends on existing state programs and plans. The…

Summarizes Kentucky's progress toward educational equity, concentrating on (1) the Kentucky Supreme Court's 1989 decision declaring the state's educational finance system unconstitutional and (2) a description and preliminary evaluation of the state's new four-part funding formula featuring pupil weighted averages for expenditure by wealth…

The "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" examines what is arguably the single most powerful authority over the teaching profession: state government. This Kentucky 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…

Providing comparative data on child care policies and programs in the State of Kentucky; this report presents an analysis of the issues, including regulation, licensing, tax and fiscal policies, subsidy programs, expenditures, availability, and quality. Data used in the study were the most current data available from the United States Department…

This national and state review provides a synthesis of current thinking and practice concerning prekindergarten programs in public schools. Section I discusses the need for preschool programs in terms of the changing family and workforce, the baby "boomlet," and socioeconomic factors. Section II reviews early childhood programs,…