Category » Policy

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  A framework for developing and sustaining a Part C finance system

  1/1/07 - Greer, M., Taylor, A., Mackey Andrews, S.D., The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center

  This paper summarizes the fiscal challenges that this legislation presents and proposes a framework for analyzing, adjusting, and maintaining a flexible and self-regulating finance system to support Part C early intervention services for infants and toddlers and their families. The framework design features four phases of work to help agencies understand the issues and make informed decisions for on-going development and support of a Part C finance system.

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  A shell game: Federal funds to improve schools

  1/1/06 - Fagan, T.

  This report describes problems with the way the funds under the No Child Left Behind Act are made available to schools identified for improvement.

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  An analysis of State Performance Plan data for indicator 2 (Dropout)

  1/1/08 - National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities,

  This report summarizes the NDPC-SD’s findings for Indicator 2 across the 50 states, commonwealths and territories, and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), for a total of 60 agencies. For the sake of convenience, in this report the term “states” is inclusive of the 50 states, the commonwealths, and the territories, as well as the BIE. The evaluation and comparison of dropout rates for the states was confounded by several issues, which are described in the context of the summary...

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  An analysis of States’ Annual Performance Report data for Indicator 1 (Graduation)

  1/1/08 - National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities,

  This report summarizes the NDPC-SD’s findings for Indicator 1 across the 50 states, commonwealths and territories, and the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), for a total of 60 agencies. For the sake of convenience, in this report the term “states” is inclusive of the 50 states, the commonwealths, and the territories, as well as the BIE. The evaluation and comparison of graduation rates for the states was confounded by several issues, which are described in the context of the summary...

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  At a Glance: NCLB and High Schools

  1/1/06 - National High School Center,

  This policy brief outlines how NCLB relates to high schools.

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  Before and after-school care arrangements and activities of school-age minority children

  Thurlow, M., Durán, R., Kato, K., Albus, D.

  This report is a first look at the before- and after-school care, programs, and activities of language minority children based on the National Household Education Survey: 2001. It describes the characteristics of the children and their before- and after-school care, programs, and activities, and also examines the relationship of some of these to school grades and school problems, two important outcome variables. The report also looks for the first time at the group of language minority...

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  Democracy at risk: The need for a new federal policy in education

  1/1/08 - The Forum for Education and Democracy,

  Prepared by Linda Darling-Hammond and George Wood, this report calls on the federal government to payoff the "education debt," invest in a new "Marshall Plan" for teachers and school leaders, support educational research and innovation, and engage and educate local communities.

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  Developmental Delay

  1/1/09 - National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities,

  Think of all the skills that children have to learn when they come into the world: smiling, turning over, responding to people, communicating, eating solid food, crawling, standing, and on and on. We expect these skills to emerge naturally over time and know more or less when they should. At 3 months, Susana will probably be doing this, at 4 months, she’ll be doing that. By a year, well, she’ll be tottering around, getting into everything. This time-table for skills to emerge is commonly...

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  Dropout prevention for students with disabilities: A critical issue for state education agencies

  1/1/07 - National High School Center,

  This issue brief provides guidance to states as they respond to requirements presented in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004) in the area of dropout prevention for students with disabilities. It also highlights the role of State Performance Plans as starting points for states to develop data collection and monitoring procedures, and supplies states with considerations and recommendations for providing a consistent method of tracking dropout data.

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  Educating english language learners at the high school level: A coherent approach to district- and school-level support

  1/1/09 - National High School Center,

  The development of state policy to promote academic achievement for ELLs is critical to improving educational outcomes and consistent with the goals of increasing high school graduation rates and meeting Adequate Yearly Progress under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Recent research indicates that states have multiple opportunities to take the initiative in supporting school systems and schools in their efforts to keep ELLs on track to meet postsecondary success.

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  Federal guidance on coordinated early intervening services

  1/1/08 - U.S. Department of Education,

  On July 28, 2008 the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) released guidance on the appropriate use of IDEA-Coordinated Early Intervening Services funding. This guidance is intended to provide states with information regarding the use of funds provided under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act by local education agencies to develop and implement coordinated early intervening services (CEIS) for students who are not currently identified as needing special education.

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  Honoring Children's Languages: One Simple Suggestion

  1/1/08 - Sonia Nieto

  Sometimes as soon as I step foot in a school, I can tell of its commitment, or lack of commitment, to affirming the diversity of their students. Some things are obvious, of course: posters, bulletin boards, the nature of the books in the library, the diversity of the staff, and the language or languages displayed in the school – not only whether the home language or languages of your students are visible, but also the tone of signs in the building such as “Visitors must go to...

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  How can early intervening services and responsiveness to intervention work together?

  1/1/07 - National Research Center on Learning Disabilities,

  This 2007 brief explains the connection between Early Intervening Services (EIS) as stipulated in the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA and Responsiveness to Intervention. It was created by the National Research Center on Learning Disabilities and could be of use for families who are looking for foundational information regarding EIS and RTI.

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  Improvement strategies for State Performance Planning: SPP toolkit series

  1/1/06 - Klare, M.

  The purpose of this practice guide is to discuss several of the factors that caused difficulties with states’ data and suggest some practical solutions. The content is designed for state education agency personnel, including special education directors, data managers, and program developers.

• Improving assessment and accountability for English language learners in the No Child Left Behind Act

  1/1/06 - Melissa Lazarín

  This Issue Brief “examines the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act on English language learners. It concludes that, while the law has not been implemented adequately, it holds considerable promise for closing the achievement gap between English language learners and other students. The issue brief also provides a road map for policymakers and school administrators for improving the law’s effectiveness for English language learners.”

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  Ineffective Uses of ESEA Title II Funds: Funding Doesn’t Improve Student Achievement

  1/1/09 - Robin Chait , Raegen Miller

  Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or ESEA, provides approximately $3 billion to support state and district-level activities that improve teacher and principal quality and thereby improve student achievement. However, there is little proof that the program is achieving this goal. Part of the problem is that Title II funding is not specifically targeted at activities that are likely to yield a significant return on investment. In fact, districts use the bulk of their...