Offering competitive teacher compensation is an important part of the solution to recruit and retain a strong and diverse teacher workforce. The maps and associated tables that follow show three teacher wage indicators for the nation and each state: (1) average annual starting salary for public school teachers; (2) average annual starting salary…

This report assesses the impact of Iowa's Community Colleges on the state economy and the benefits generated by the colleges for students, taxpayers, and society. Iowa's Community Colleges serve 138,642 credit and 232,480 non-credit students. The combined service region for the colleges, for the purpose of this report, consists of the state of…

This paper reports that between 2008 and 2009, unemployment rates across OECD countries increased among people at all educational levels, but rose to especially troubling heights among people without an upper secondary education. In 2009, the average employment rate across OECD countries was much higher for individuals with a tertiary (i.e.…

Early childhood teachers routinely face insufficient teaching supports and inadequate rewards for their education and commitment (e.g., low pay, lack of professional supports, and lack of benefits). These shortcomings contribute to poor program quality and fuel high levels of teacher turnover, preventing program improvement and making it…

This article presents a review which embodies a general inquiry about the growth of the Native American gaming industry and possibilities the future may hold for America's indigenous people. Tribal gaming is different from other forms of gaming. It is conducted by Native American governments as a way to carry out their natural self-governing…

Distressed urban neighborhoods face challenges on multiple fronts, but most efforts to confront these problems work in isolation of one another. The New Communities Program (NCP) is an exception, helping selected Chicago neighborhoods develop partnerships to address challenges involving employment, education, housing, and safety in a…

The Wyoming Community College Commission (WCCC) serves the system of Wyoming's seven community colleges. Wyoming's seven community colleges provide affordable, accessible and lifelong education. The Wyoming Community College Commission supports the colleges through advocacy, coordination and collaboration. In partnership with the colleges, the…

The urgent demographic situation has led to an acute awareness of the necessity of far-reaching decisions to strengthen the family and implement radical measures of family policy. Many experts are talking about the crisis of the institution of the family, about the loss of the importance of family values among a substantial portion of Russians,…

A recent survey of 430 parents in southeastern Wisconsin finds the majority are satisfied with the quality of their child care arrangements and their options for child care. Most say they would not change anything about their child care arrangement if they had the chance, and nearly two-thirds report a willingness to pay more for their current…

This first national estimate suggests that the economic cost of methamphetamine (meth) use in the United States reached $23.4 billion in 2005. Given the uncertainty in estimating the costs of meth use, this book provides a lower-bound estimate of $16.2 billion and an upper-bound estimate of $48.3 billion. The analysis considers a wide range of…

Rwanda is on the verge of a breakthrough. Having weathered one of the worst humanitarian crises imaginable just fifteen years ago, and with an impoverished countryside plagued by HIV/AIDS, hunger, and malaria, Rwanda seems an unlikely place for an economic renaissance. Yet the nation's commitment to good government and support for free market…

Americans with disabilities depend on the disability services infrastructure, which consists of health, education, and social services programs. The need for these services is expected to increase significantly in the coming decades as a result of several factors, most notably the aging of the baby boom generation and declining birthrates. These…

The Foundation for Child Development Child and Youth Well-Being Index Project at Duke University issues an annual comprehensive measure of how children are faring in the United States. The Child Well-Being Index (CWI) is based on a composite of 28 "Key Indicators" of wellbeing that are grouped into seven "Quality-of-Life/Well-Being…

The National Capital Region (NCR) is home to more than one-and-a-half million children and youth (ages birth through 24 years). Although the NCR is known as a place with a highly transient population, if history is any guide, many of these young people will remain in this region and fundamentally shape the quality of life--not only for themselves,…

This study measures the nationwide participation rates of girls and boys in exercise and organized team sports. The central focus is on how the intersections among families, schools and communities are related to children's involvement and interest in athletics and physical activity. Some of the personal and social benefits associated with…