This paper evaluates the effects of federal initiatives in educational technology in elementary and secondary education over the past half-century. While federal resources have been diluted across many programs, this paper focuses on the few initiatives in which the federal role was substantial and integral. The findings from this paper have…

In 2006-07, the federal government awarded over $13 billion in Pell Grants to more than 5 million undergraduate students (U.S. Department of Education 2007). The goal of the Pell Grant program is to help students with financial need enroll in and graduate from college by providing them with a basic foundation of financial aid, to which they may…

The purpose of the United States Department of Education's (the Department) FY 2013 "Agency Financial Report" (AFR) is to assist Congress, the President, and the American people to assess the Department's stewardship over resources with which it is entrusted. This annual report is required by legislation and complies with the…

New federal spending on student aid is unlikely to improve college access. The increase in access in higher education in America largely came before massive federal involvement in student financial aid programs. Evidence suggests that federal subsidies for student aid may be counterproductive. Modest provision of financial assistance serves to…

American Indian organizations in Chicago grew both in size and number during the 1970s. The lasting impact of War on Poverty programs and the passing of the Indian Education Act of 1972 and the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973 served as significant factors for the development of these organizations. Alternative American Indian…

On February 29, 2008, Gov. Bobby Jindal presented the Louisiana Legislature with a proposed budget allocating $10 million for a school choice initiative that would enable parents in New Orleans to send their children to the school of their choice, including private schools, with state-funded scholarships. Leaders of the public school establishment…

The Davidson County School District in Lexington, North Carolina, has jumped into project-based learning with both feet: they have committed to using PBL in all their schools and classrooms by 2006, and they have received a U.S. federal government Enhancing Education Through Technology grant to help provide the staff development and equipment…

The purpose of the U.S. Department of Education's online newsletter "The Education Innovator" is to promote innovative practices in education; to offer features on promising programs and practices; to provide information on innovative research, schools, policies, and trends; and to keep readers informed of key Department priorities and activities.…

The state-administered grant program authorized under the "Adult Education and Family Literacy Act (AEFLA)", enacted as Title II of the "Workforce Investment Act (WIA)" of 1998, is the major source of federal support for adult basic education and literacy education programs. When "AEFLA" was authorized in 1998,…

This May 2006 issue of "Federal Literacy Facts" contains the following sections: (1) Canadian Council on Learning Releases Learning Index; (2) Learning Index Highlights Adult Literacy as Key Challenge; (3) Literacy Doesn't Make the Federal Budget's Priority List; (4) Community Still Waiting for Federal Call for Literacy Proposals; (5) AG…

This sixth edition of the State Governance Report summarizes the most relevant issues, legislative proposals, and proposed policies facing public higher education and its governance and oversight. The majority of coverage is devoted to the current or just recently completed 2009 legislative sessions. Other issues covered in this report include…

This paper provides an analysis of the basis for and clarity and restrictiveness of the program requirements applicable to local school districts applying for grants under Title I of ESEA. Specifically, this paper, which is the first of 5 papers to be prepared by the Legal Standards Project, is concerned with the following: (1) the basis for the…

Presented in this paper are the top 10 issues most likely to affect public higher education across the 50 states in 2009, in the view of the state policy analysis and research staff at American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). While numerous topics shape state higher education policy, each affecting the issues of…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Focus on Dropout Factories: Associated Press Article Spotlights Low-Performing High Schools, Draws Criticism from Many School…

The Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) commissioned this paper to help policy leaders and decision makers understand the impact of selected state financial aid programs on students' choices--choices of which college to attend, where to attend college, and even whether to attend college at all. As the paper shows, states…