ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
National Assessment of IDEA Overview. NCEE 2011-4026
Author: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance (ED)
Date: 2011-07-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Special Education,Disabilities,Developmental Delays,Early Intervention,Related Services (Special Education),State Agencies,School Districts,Program Implementation,Federal Legislation,Program Evaluation,Program Effectiveness

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (P.L. 108-446), enacted by the United States Congress on December 3, 2004, is the most recent reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), federal legislation which is specifically focused on the education of children with disabilities. As of Fall 2008, IDEA supported early intervention and special education and related services for 6.94 million children ages 0 to 21 who had been identified as having a disability or a risk of substantial developmental delay. In Fiscal Year 2010, appropriations for IDEA were $12.572 billion, out of $64.135 billion in discretionary funding for the U. S. Department of Education (ED). Section 664(b) of IDEA requires that the Secretary of Education delegate to the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) responsibility for conducting an assessment of national activities under the law, henceforth known as the &quot;National Assessment of IDEA.&quot; The National Assessment of IDEA is distinct from the annual reports submitted by ED to Congress on the implementation of the law. The goals of the National Assessment of IDEA, as stated in the law, are threefold: (1) to determine the effectiveness of this title [IDEA] in achieving the purposes of this title; (2) to provide timely information to the President, Congress, the States, local educational agencies, and the public on how to implement this title more effectively; and (3) to provide the President and Congress with information that will be useful in developing legislation to achieve the purposes of this title more effectively. This introduction to the National Assessment of IDEA begins with a review of the purposes of the law. It then describes the general approach IES has adopted to conducting this National Assessment of IDEA and specific evaluation studies that have begun in two broad areas: (1) studies of the implementation of IDEA programs, and (2) studies of outcomes and effects associated with IDEA-related services. The rest of this overview summarizes findings from the IDEA National Assessment Implementation Study, which provides a national picture of state agency and school district implementation of IDEA. (Contains 11 exhibits and 26 endnotes.) [For the full report, &quot;IDEA National Assessment Implementation Study. Final Report. NCEE 2011-4027,&quot; see ED522067.]
Graduate and First-Professional Students: 2007-08. Stats in Brief. NCES 2011-174
Author: Choy, Susan P.
Date: 2011-07-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Student Financial Aid,Surveys,Enrollment,Higher Education,Graduate Students,Academic Degrees,Professional Education,Statistical Significance,Masters Degrees,Doctoral Degrees,Bachelors Degrees,Attendance,Statistics,Grants

Drawing upon data from the 2007-08 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08), a nationally representative survey of all postsecondary students, this Statistics in Brief offers an overview of the enrollment characteristics of graduate and first-professional students, when they started their programs, how they combined school and work, the price of attending, and the types and amounts of aid they receive to help pay for their education in 2007-08. Except where otherwise indicated, it includes students enrolled at public, private nonprofit, and for-profit 4-year institutions. Data are reported separately by degree level and within level, for selected degree programs with sufficient numbers to report separately. Financial aid information is presented for all students in a program regardless of whether they attended full or part time. Details on financial aid for full-time, full-year attendees can be found in Cataldi and Ho (2010b). Information on student demographic characteristics can be found in Cataldi and Ho (2010a). (Contains 17 figures and 13 footnotes.)
Study of Effective Alternative Education Programs: Final Grant Report
Author: Quinn, Mary Magee
Date: 2007-06-12
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Expertise,Nontraditional Education,Student Improvement,Attendance,At Risk Students,Disabilities,Program Effectiveness,Grants,Attendance Patterns,Special Needs Students,Student Needs,Student Participation,Parent Participation,Parent Attitudes,Qualitative Research,Statistical Analysis,Measures (Individuals),Student Motivation

This report presents findings of a study conducted to identify the components of systems that effectively meet the diverse, ever changing needs of children with disabilities for whom traditional school settings do not work. A secondary goal of this study was to develop a conceptually clear and empirically grounded definition of alternative schools. Field experts and members of the study's Expert Panel assisted with identifying alternative programs recognized as exemplary in terms of their effectiveness in working with at-risk students. In addition to expert opinions about exemplary programs, an important selection criterion was the availability of data on program effectiveness. Using this process, three alternative education systems were identified and selected. Positive outcomes of these programs include improved student attendance rates; student improvement on evaluations of their functioning; high percentages of students reporting that they are motivated to succeed and that their program involvement helped improve their lives; and parental satisfaction with, and involvement in, the programs. The report is organized into seven sections: (1) Background information on the grant including a description of the study, its goals and objectives as defined in the grant proposal, modifications approved by the Federal Project Officer, and problems encountered and solutions; (2) The authors' approach to carry out this study including the methodology and sampling used for data collection efforts, and the instruments selected for this research; (3) Three sections on findings beginning with the literature review, followed by quantitative and then qualitative findings; (4) A summary of study-related dissemination activities; and (5) A discussion of implications for policy, practice, and research and recommendations. Appended are: (1) Publications and Presentations; and (2) Alternative Schools Strand Sessions of the International Child &amp; Adolescent Conference XII. (Contains 14 tables, 8 figures and 7 footnotes.)
Mentoring Immigrant & Refugee Youth: A Toolkit for Program Coordinators
Author: MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Guides - Non-Classroom
Subjects: Mentors,Immigrants,Refugees,Interpersonal Relationship,Youth,Program Design,Program Evaluation,Case Studies,Guides,Program Administration,Cultural Awareness

"Mentoring Immigrant Youth: A Toolkit for Program Coordinators" is a comprehensive resource that is designed to offer program staff important background information, promising program practices and strategies to build and sustain high-quality mentoring relationships for different categories of immigrant youth. Included in this resource are five chapters that focus on skills needed to design, plan, manage, operate and evaluate programming specifically for immigrant youth in one's area. Each chapter has a series of "ready-to-use" tools, templates and training exercises that will take readers through the different steps necessary to build or strengthen mentoring relationships that hold the potential to make a difference in the lives of new Americans. In addition, highlighted case studies are included throughout this resource to showcase practices that might be useful to replicate in one's own program. (Contains 8 footnotes and 31 resources.)
Educating Students with Disabilities: Comparing Methods for Explaining Expenditure Variation. Report 7
Author: Chambers, Jay G.
Date: 2004-05-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Expenditures,Disabilities,Classification,Student Characteristics,Special Education,Measures (Individuals),Comparative Analysis,Federal Legislation,Multiple Disabilities,Profiles,Special Education Teachers,Transportation,Teacher Aides

Because of the limitations of the traditional approaches to classifying a child's characteristics, a number of authors have proposed to describe children on the basis of a defined set of functional skills or abilities rather than by etiological or deficit category (Bailey et al. (1993); Holt (1957); Linden (1963)). Building on this earlier work, Simeonsson and Bailey (1988) developed the ABILITIES Index (AI), an index designed to assess functional characteristics rather than skills. Although the ABILITIES Index was not originally designed to link student characteristics to the patterns of expenditure variations, the size of the SEEP (Special Education Expenditure Project) student sample offers a unique opportunity to apply the AI classification scheme to explore how such a tool might be used to explain the patterns of variations in expenditures on students with disabilities. The purpose of this paper is to compare the variance in expenditures explained by the IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) disability categories with the dimensions delineated in the ABILITIES Index. The report demonstrates that the AI and IDEA disability categories are useful both independently and together in explaining the variation in expenditures on students with disabilities, while controlling for other student background and community/regional variables. The analysis that follows includes three stages. The first stage determines the percentage of the variation in spending explained by the student's primary disability (from among the 13 IDEA disability categories). The second phase explores whether a particular child has a second, third, or more disabilities, and explores the extent to which these disabilities contribute to expenditure variations. The third phase of the analysis examines an alternative approach to classifying students. A bibliography is included. (Contains 10 exhibits and 8 footnotes.)
Research Corner: Ethical Principles for Youth Mentoring Relationships
Author: Rhodes, Jean
Date: 2011-02-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Mentors,Interpersonal Relationship,Ethics,Youth,Intervention,Volunteers

Ethics have been a somewhat overlooked topic in the field of youth mentoring. Yet, because a personal relationship is at the heart of mentoring interventions, inconsistencies, misunderstandings and terminations can touch on youth's vulnerabilities in ways that other interventions do not. This Research Corner presents a set of ethical principles to guide volunteer mentors and the program staff who advise them as they strive to build meaningful and growth-promoting relationships with their mentees. (Contains 13 notes.)
State Special Education Finance Systems, 1999-2000. Part I
Author: Parrish, Thomas
Date: 2003-05-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Disabilities,Special Education,Funding Formulas,Clearinghouses,Educational Finance,State Surveys,Accessibility (for Disabled),Expenditures,Finance Reform,Census Figures,Performance Factors,Educational Resources,Resource Allocation,Operations Research,Financial Policy,Administrator Attitudes,State Officials,Expenditure per Student

The Center for Special Education Finance (CSEF)--housed in the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and one of several research centers funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), U.S. Department of Education--provides policymakers and administrators at all governmental levels with data, analyses, expertise, and opportunities to share information about special education finance issues. One CSEF activity is the collection and dissemination of information on state systems of special education finance. In 1999-2000, CSEF collaborated with the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) to survey state special education administrators. The survey was designed to obtain two types of information: (1) Descriptions of the mechanisms used by states to fund special education services for school-age children with disabilities, and (2) State-level estimates of the total amounts of spending on these services from state, local, and federal funds from 1994-5 through 1998-99. This document summarizes results from the CSEF/NASDSE survey, describing state systems for financing special education services for school-age children with disabilities during the 1999-2000 school year. The survey also collected special education revenue and expenditure data for the years 1994-95 to 1998-99 (which are reported in a separate document). Survey data from all 50 states are included in this report, with all but four states (Georgia, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and South Dakota) providing updated information. Chapter II of this report contains an abstract of each state's special education funding mechanism for the 1999-2000 school year. Appended are: (1) Special Education Funding Contacts; (2) Conducted and Proposed Studies; and (3) Beliefs Regarding Impact of IDEA. (Contains 13 exhibits and 7 footnotes.) [For Part II, see ED522070.]
Public School Choice in the District of Columbia: A Descriptive Analysis. Brief 13
Author: Ozek, Umut
Date: 2011-04-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Evidence,Public Schools,School Choice,Educational Quality,Educational Policy,Disadvantaged Youth,Educational Change,Access to Education,Academic Achievement,Low Achievement,Neighborhood Schools

Increasing parental choice has been a leading theme of recent education policy intended to enhance the academic achievement of low-performing students in the United States. These policies aim to &quot;level the playing field&quot; in access to high-quality education for disadvantaged students who cannot otherwise afford higher-quality schooling options. Such reforms employ different instruments in order to provide alternatives to a household's neighborhood public school. Washington, D.C., has been a front-runner in the variety and number of alternative public schooling options made available to parents. This brief examines household school choice behavior within the District of Columbia (D.C.) school choice environment, using a two-year (2007-08 and 2008-09 school years) panel of the entire public school student population in D.C. Overall, the findings provide evidence that the relatively advantaged students are taking advantage of public school choice programs. However, choice exacerbates student quality disparities between low- and high-poverty schools, casting some doubt on the benefits of such programs. (Contains 4 figures, 2 tables and 11 notes.)
Using Community Colleges to Build a STEM-Skilled Workforce. Issue Brief
Author: National Governors Association, Center for Best Practices
Date: 2011-06-24
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Community Colleges,Skill Development,STEM Education,Labor Force Development,Skilled Workers,College Role,Educational Needs,Labor Needs,Barriers,Financial Support,Educational Finance,Change Strategies,State Action,Educational Resources

Education and skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are important in a global economy increasingly focused on high-growth, technology-driven occupations. Yet, many states face a shortage of STEM-skilled students and workers. A number of states have built powerful and productive STEM education and skills strategies to address these shortages. As highlighted in this Issue Brief, community colleges can play an important role in governor-led statewide STEM initiatives. These institutions provide affordable, accessible postsecondary options. They also are often less bureaucratic, which allows them to respond to rapidly changing economic and workforce needs and meet the demands of the local labor market. Governors can exercise their leverage over community colleges to target policies and funding in ways that bolster STEM education and STEM-related workforce skill development. Specifically, governors can: (1) Engage business to help ensure that community colleges meet regional STEM-skill needs; (2) Use community colleges to support new models of STEM education; (3) Reward community colleges and students for STEM course-completion; (4) Ensure that community colleges support more effective mathematics remediation; and (5) Require that community college STEM credits and credentials are transferable and stackable. In addition to describing the need for STEM skills across states and the role community colleges can play in meeting this need, this Issue Brief highlights pockets of excellence across a number of community college STEM skill development programs. (Contains 35 endnotes.)
Forum Guide to Ensuring Equal Access to Education Websites: Introduction to Electronic Information Accessibility Standards. NFES 2011-807
Author: National Forum on Education Statistics (ED)
Date: 2011-07-00
Type: Guides - Non-Classroom
Subjects: Electronic Publishing,Laws,Audiences,Disabilities,School Districts,Information Technology,Guidelines,State Departments of Education,Reference Materials,Federal Legislation,State Legislation,Access to Information,Web Sites

This guide is designed for use by information technology administrators, data specialists, and program staff responsible for the &quot;content&quot; in data reports, as well as education leaders (e.g., administrators who prioritize tasks for technical and data staff), and other stakeholders who have an interest in seeing that schools, school districts, and state education agencies operate in an effective and equitable manner for all constituents, regardless of disability status. It is intended to raise awareness in nontechnical audiences and suggest best practices for complying with Section 508 goals at an operational level in schools, school districts, and state education agencies. This document reflects the judgment of experienced education data managers and information technology specialists. While there is no mandate to follow these principles, the authors hope that the contents will prove a useful reference to others in their work. This paper contains three chapters. Chapter 1 raises awareness about how people with disabilities access electronic information, introduces the federal Section 508 accessibility law, and challenges education leaders to make their electronic resources accessible to all constituents regardless of disability status (i.e., to comply with the law). Chapter 2 describes the technical capabilities required by Section 508 and international guidelines for achieving accessibility. Chapter 3 recommends practical strategies for planning to improve accessibility and comply with Section 508 standards in an education organization. Appended are: (1) Forum/NCES Resources &amp; Selected State Laws and Policies Governing Accessible Technologies; (2) Section 508 Leadership Indicators from the U.S. General Services Administration; (3) Commonly Asked Questions About Section 508; and (4) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. (Contains 1 table, 7 figures and 13 footnotes.)
Complete to Compete: From Information to Action--Revamping Higher Education Accountability Systems
Author: Reindl, Travis
Date: 2011-07-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Higher Education,Public Colleges,Accountability,Competition,Productivity,Investment,Efficiency,Organizational Effectiveness,Educational Assessment,Measurement,Labor Needs,Labor Force Development,Economic Development,Enrollment Rate,Graduation Rate,Outcomes of Education,Academic Achievement,Educational Policy

Public colleges and universities, which educate the vast majority of the nation's students, are an important part of states' economic competitiveness efforts. These institutions face a number of pressures that will demand increased productivity and a data driven investment strategy moving forward. Increasing productivity in higher education will depend in part on building strong accountability systems that move away from the ones primarily in use today, which tend to emphasize inputs over outcomes and the collection and reporting of data as opposed to using the information in decision-making. This report recommends that states should include efficiency and effectiveness metrics in their accountability systems to help answer four key policy questions: (1) To what extent are public higher education institutions meeting the state's need for an educated workforce and supporting progress toward longer term economic goals?; (2) How many students at public institutions are graduating relative to total enrollment?; (3) What is the return on states' and students' investment in public institutions in terms of completed certificates and degrees?; and (4) How can public institutions demonstrate that efficiency gains are being achieved without sacrificing student learning? Governors can use the metrics and best practices identified in the report to guide their agendas for higher education. Efficiency and Effectiveness Metrics are appended. (Contains 25 endnotes.)
Traveling through Time: The Forum Guide to Longitudinal Data Systems. Book Four of Four: Advanced LDS Usage. NFES 2011-802
Author: National Forum on Education Statistics (ED)
Date: 2011-07-00
Type: Guides - Non-Classroom
Subjects: Information Systems,Information Management,Data,Educational Indicators,Elementary Secondary Education,Information Utilization,Prerequisites,Stakeholders,Professional Development,Training,Educational Policy,Case Studies

This document is the fourth and final installment of this Forum series of guides on longitudinal data systems (LDS). One goal of the National Forum on Education Statistics (the Forum) is to improve the quality of education data gathered for use by policymakers and program decisionmakers. An approach to furthering this goal has been to pool the collective experiences of Forum members to produce &quot;best practice&quot; guides in areas of high interest to those who collect, maintain, and use data about elementary and secondary education. Developing LDSs is one of those high-interest areas. These systems hold promise for enhancing both the way education agencies use data to serve students and the way they do business, from the policy level to the school office and into the classroom. This fourth book in the guide series focuses on issues important to the effective use of longitudinal data. The introduction explains the purpose of book four, as well as the format and conventions used throughout the series. Chapter 1 takes a historical look at data use, comparing what was done in the past with what is possible today thanks to detailed longitudinal data. Chapter 2 describes several preconditions to effective data use. Chapter 3 summarizes the many uses of longitudinal data, and the types of users who can leverage the information. Chapter 4 offers tips on implementing effective training and professional development programs on the use of longitudinal data. Chapter 5 discusses the road ahead for LDS development and use. Appended are: (1) Overview of the LDS Guide Series; (2) References; (3) Additional Resources; and (4) Forum and Other NCES Resources. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.) [For related reports, see the following: (1) &quot;Traveling through Time: The Forum Guide to Longitudinal Data Systems. Book One of Four: What Is an LDS? NFES 2010-805&quot; (ED511638); (2) &quot;Traveling through Time: The Forum Guide to Longitudinal Data Systems. Book Two of Four: Planning and Developing an LDS. NFES 2011-804&quot; (ED515114); and (3) &quot;Traveling through Time: The Forum Guide to Longitudinal Data Systems. Book Three of Four: Effectively Managing LDS Data. NFES 2011-805&quot; (ED515850).]