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Major demographic shifts in the population of the United States, combined with persistent gaps in educational achievement by ethnic group, could decrease the portion of the workforce with college-level skills over the next 15 years, with a consequent decline in per capita personal income in the United States. Meanwhile, the competitive edge of the U.S. workforce is slipping; several other developed countries now surpass the United States in the percentage of their young working-age population enrolling in college and attaining a bachelor's degree. At a time when the knowledge-based, global economy requires more Americans with education and training beyond high school, the nation confronts the prospect of a sustained drop in the average educational levels of the U.S. workforce. This report identifies four state policy dimensions for improving college readiness and success: (1) the alignment of coursework and assessments; (2) state finance; (3) statewide data systems; and (4) accountability. Sample Unified Performance-Based Budget for Preschool to Grade 20 is appended. (Contains 1 figure and 49 endnotes.) Appended is: (1) A Sample Unified Performance-Based Budget for Preschool to Grade 20.

The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) has defined the workforce development system as organizations at the national, state, and local levels that have direct responsibility for planning and allocating resources (both public and private), providing administrative oversight, and operating programs to assist individuals and employers in obtaining education, training, job placement, and job recruitment. This NCWD/Youth brief is aimed at helping administrators and youth service practitioners who work with youth better understand how to navigate the workforce development system. It focuses on one piece of legislation that impacts youth, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). By accessing the workforce development system, youth with disabilities and the professionals that assist them will have increased access to information, industry employers, and other resources. Youth with disabilities can use these resources to enhance the relevance of their education and increase their chances of professional success.

In the fall of 2004, the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) convened members of the School Leadership Learning Community (SLLC) and invited guests for three invitational, issue-focused meetings. Each of the meetings was conducted as a modified Select Seminar (www.casdany.neric.org/history3.htm) and explored an issue specific to preparing and supporting school leaders. The discussions were held in an environment conducive to open and honest dialogue and participants were encouraged to "dig deeper" into the issues being discussed. The conversations captured busy professionals' knowledge and insights about preparing school leaders and identified promising practices being implemented across the country. This leadership brief presents the major themes that emerged from the IEL Select Seminar on preparing leaders for rural schools. The accompanying insights and suggestions are offered for the consideration of those who strive to prepare school leaders who have the capacity to ensure that no rural child is left behind.

In the fall of 2004, the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) convened members of the School Leadership Learning Community (SLLC) and invited guests for three invitational, issue-focused meetings. The meetings were supported by the Laboratory for Student Success (LSS), the mid-Atlantic regional educational laboratory at Temple University, through a contract with the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES). This report provides field-based insights collected from people working in, and familiar with, leadership-development programs for school leaders in urban, suburban, and rural districts across the country. It shares and distills authentic conversations, anchored by participants' direct experiences. These conversations acknowledged challenges, but focused more intently on promising practices and policy and program strategies that make a difference in programs and initiatives for preparing school leaders, who are themselves diverse and have the skills, knowledge, and attributes necessary for cultural competence. Participants in the seminar engaged in candid conversations about what America's ever changing demographics mean for current and future school leaders. They considered the knowledge, skills, and attributes that culturally competent leaders need; discussed where and how these are best developed; and made recommendations for practice and policy. In short, they talked about numerous competencies and strategies required of school leaders whose visions of education encompass America's diverse population, and they talked about how to prepare and support such leaders. In addition, five themes emerged from the conversations and are offered as important factors for consideration by policymakers and practitioners.

This brief describes how administrators and policymakers can use the concepts of youth development and youth leadership in developing and administering programs that serve all youth and activities specifically geared toward youth with disabilities. The brief is based on a longer paper, Youth Development and Youth Leadership, A Background Paper, published by The National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth. The full paper is available online at http://www.ncwd-youth.info.

A piece of civil rights legislation, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees students with disabilities a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment and authorizes appropriations of billions of dollars in funding to states and school districts to assist them in providing special education and related services. The revisions of IDEA contained in the new law, Public Law 108-446, build on and more closely align IDEA with the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). They also modify important requirements around individualized student planning, transition, litigation, and due process protections, monitoring and enforcement, and federal funding. Below is a summary of some of the major provisions in the new law.

Well-supported employer participation is essential to successful workforce development programs. The Workforce Investment Act (WIA), which funds a system of programs throughout the country that assist individuals, including youth with disabilities, in overcoming barriers to employment through job training and placement, gave heightened attention to the role of employers. There are important provisions in WIA designed to attract more employers to the nation's workforce investment system, including the establishment of Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs), which are policy making entities led by employers. This document discusses the function of community-wide intermediaries. (Contains 2 tables.) [Brief also prepared by the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth.]

All effective youth programs have youth development at their core. Effective youth leadership programs build on solid youth development principles, with an emphasis on those areas of development and program components that support youth leadership. This paper has been created by the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) to assist youth service practitioners, administrators, and policymakers in defining, differentiating, and providing youth development and youth leadership programs and activities, which are important components of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA).

This document provides an overview and analysis of how a series of national conferences held in the fall of 2003 framed conversations around high schools and high-school-age youth This analysis explores the underlying assumptions of these frameworks and the extent to which they coalesced or diverged. The report also examines the content of the meeting agendas for common topics, as well as for topics that were either missed entirely or emphasized at only a few conferences. It is hoped that this report helps leaders maintain the momentum needed to continue these important conversations, and to commit to building the strong and supportive schools, systems, and communities the nation's youth need and deserve. (Includes 3 figures and 62 endnotes.)

This paper provides baseline information for the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth (NCWD/Youth) to fulfill its overall mission: To ensure that youth with disabilities are provided full access to high quality services in integrated settings in order to maximize their opportunity for employment and independent living. It specifically addresses one of three goals of NCWD/Youth: To improve the awareness, knowledge, and skills of individuals responsible for providing direct services to youth. The paper looks at how and by whom: (1) required content is established; (2) training and education based upon that content are provided; and (3) credentials are given. Additionally, the paper outlines some possible action steps to build stronger connections among organizations and workforce development institutions to ensure that skilled staff serves youth and employers, the two ultimate customers of the system.

This report builds on information prepared for and presented at the June 2001 meeting of the National Alliance on the American High School (the Alliance). It focuses on one layer of the education system, state policy, which was selected for study because major changes in practice are hard to establish and even harder to sustain when state policies are inhospitable toward high school reform. State statutes and state board requirements affecting public high schools were studied, and data were gathered from a number of credible sources. The state policies reviewed fell into three clusters: (1) policies specific to high schools that deal with compulsory schooling ages, course credit, graduation, and diplomas; (2) policies to ensure opportunities to learn, which include those related to education financing, safe, non-violent schools, help for students who are falling behind, teacher certification requirements, and options beyond the regular comprehensive high school; and (3) policies surrounding standards, assessments, and accountability. The policies specific to high school carry some unpleasant messages about how relatively unchanged high schools have remained during the past two decades. Legislation relative to the high school curriculum and graduation suggests that findings of 20 years ago are still true. If students show up, can pass their courses, and do not cause trouble, they will graduate. The most significant difference is that today many students will also have to pass a state examination to receive a diploma. State policies keep the odds for students unbalanced, with clear tracks with different opportunities for different students. State leaders need to take a closer look at how their states have addressed high school education. (Contains 2 tables, 20 maps, 13 endnotes, and 28 references.) (SLD)

The slump experienced by many high school seniors stems in part from the failure of the K-12 school system and colleges and universities to provide incentives for high school seniors to work hard. Senior slump appears to be the rational response of students to some disjunctions between the K-12 and postsecondary systems, including a lack of assessment in grade 12, a college admissions calendar that provides little incentive for seniors to take demanding courses, a lack of coherence and sequencing between the K-12 system and colleges, and the emphasis on access and admission to college rather than preparation for completing college. Recommendations in this report are geared toward reclaiming the senior year as a time of serious work. These policy suggestions focus on: (1) strengthening the high school curriculum and linking it to the general education requirement of the first year of college; (2) recognizing various achievement levels on statewide K-12 assessments that meet college or university standards; (3) improving college admissions and placement priorities; and (4) assigning responsibilities for K-16 issues to a single entity in each state. An appendix discusses findings from Stanford University's Bridge Project. (Contains 1 table and 20 references.) (SLD)

Schools and communities can work together in unison to benefit children and families. This paper explores the issues and potential inherent in closer relationships between schools and community-building organizations. Drawing from interviews and conversations with community builders and school leaders in urban areas, it attempts to help educators and community builders understand one another, to describe strategies that work to guide better interactions, and to offer recommendations for future joint efforts. The Starting Points section outlines the background of school and community involvement. The Sticking Points section examines differences between schools and community organizations. The Summary Points section gives the rules of engagement for both educators and community builders in chart format and demonstrates similarities in goals, differences in approach, and opportunities for cooperative work. The Building Relationships section details strategies that have been successful. The Rules of Engagement section offers suggestions to educators and community builders in chart format. Moving Forward is a section with suggestions for expanding and strengthening school and community interaction. The Stories of Four Communities section describes four sites where communities and schools work together: the Chula Vista Elementary School District, CA; the Germantown Settlement Multi-purpose Agency in Philadelphia, PA; the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, IL; and the Marshall Heights Community Development Organization, DC. Dialogue-Participants and Interviewees and Resource Organizations are appended. (RKJ)

This publication examines the relationship between K-12 and postsecondary education, calling for greater policymaker attention to inter-level issues. The document examines the growing relationship between K-12 and postsecondary education, citing some recent initiatives to connect these two levels of education; most importantly, it argues that such efforts must be intensified and broadened. The paper notes the importance of keeping both quality and quantity in mind, creating both a set of equity linkages to reduce the effects of economic and social difference and a set of content-based linkages to help students achieve at their highest possible level. Following the introduction, the discussion covers concerns specific to preschool (Head Start/poverty); early school (dropouts/links); middle school (absenteeism/standardized tests/ transience); and high school (school ranking/graduation rates/ college-going rates). This section also cites successful educational reform efforts in Texas and North Carolina, discusses co-registration and age-grading as useful bridges from high school to college, and notes some beginning K-16 initiatives. The discussion of transition from college to life after school covers such topics as proportional equity, distance learning, race and class, equal opportunity, and equity. In the summary section, the report reviews some major changes since 1985 and notes trends for the future. (Contains 40 references.) (CH)

This report focuses on school superintendents--those currently in the position and those in the pipeline. The report reaffirms the importance of the superintendency, raises concerns about the lack of national data collection on school superintendents, and concludes that Americans need more demographic information about, and increased understanding of, the role of the superintendent. The report opens by criticizing the lack of information that has been generated on superintendents and proceeds to supply details on those who hold this position. It looks at the proportion of women in the job, as well as the race and the age of the job holders. The report discusses how long superintendents stay in the job, longer than the news media suggest, and how much they earn. The report explores the routes to the superintendency and looks at the pool of potential candidates for the position, which includes assistant superintendents, central-office administrators, and principals. The makeup of this pool reflects promising diversity in gender and race, although there is almost a total lack of Asian Americans in the pool. Another feature of this pool of potential superintendents is that secondary school principals are much more likely to become superintendents than are elementary school principals. (Contains 16 references.) (RJM)

A project to map the outlines of school-community initiatives for educational improvement was undertaken to provide more information about these cooperative efforts. The mapping project aimed to identify the major types, purposes, and strategies of school-community initiatives and explore the dynamics of implementing, sustaining, and expanding these initiatives. Information was drawn from a national cross-section of 20 school-community initiatives based on surveys, interviews, and group conversations. These results represent a snapshot of school-community initiatives. The report contains recommendations for establishing school-community initiatives and profiles of the 20 programs. (SLD)

To provide more information about school-community initiatives, a mapping project was developed to show the broad outlines of the movement to bring about change through school-community efforts and to show some of the movement's more specialized details. Focusing on initiatives at the kindergarten through grade 12 level, the mapping project selected 20 initiatives as examples. Part 1 of the report, "Charting the Basic Terrain," describes four major approaches to school-community initiatives, the primary purposes and strategies associated with each approach, and the relationships among them. Part 2 of the report, "Mapping Key Features," describes 10 aspects of school-community initiatives about which policymakers and practitioners often ask and presents summary profiles of the 20 initiatives. Part 3, "Strengthening Schools and Sustaining Innovations," broadens the focus of the study from a descriptive analysis of school-community initiatives to consideration of their impact on the quality of education and their long-term staying power and expansion. School-community initiatives contribute to school improvement by fostering positive relations with staff, developing parent participation and leadership, and ensuring access to the school's decision-making process. The sustainability of school-community initiatives depends on stable leadership and permanent financing strategies, as well as diversified funding, careful site selection, visibility, and organized constituent support. A brief set of recommendations for funders, policymakers, and practitioners is included. Appendix A contains additional information about each initiative and contact information. Six other appendixes discuss particular aspects of the operation of school-community initiatives. (Contains 5 tables, 21 figures, and 21 endnotes.) (SLD)

This document contains background information on the school-to-work (STW) movement and 20 essays written by employers and intermediaries involved in STW program planning and implementation. Four points are highlighted: (1) it takes time to assemble an STW system; (2) the number of students participating in structured work-based learning remains small; (3) STW marketing is required; and (4) brokers between education/training and employers are needed. The following essays are included: "'Skilled Workers Needed" (Rene Craft); "Stepping Forward and Stepping Up to New Roles" (Lee Doyle); "'Sheer Necessity'" (George H. Kaye); "School-to-Careers: A New Revolution" (Larry Stupski); "Clear Links to Core Business Goals: A Necessity!" (Dave Johnson); "Sustainable Strategy for the Next Century" (Renee Lerche, Mike Schmidt); "Building New Bridges" (Michael Bzdak); "Trust Is the Elixir of Commitment" (Lisa Goldberg); "WOMP: Give Them Something to Talk About" (Rogercarole Rogers); "A Sustained and Evolving Commitment" (Sharon Knotts Green); "Links in the Education Chain" (Jere Hess); "Merging the European and American Systems" (John P. Tobin); "Giving Students a Solid Start" (Kevin Healey); "Building a Support Structure Takes Time" (Mary Dodd); "The Connection for All Students" (William Diehl); "Spanning a Revolution: Can It Happen?" (Robert Gordon); "Developing a Sequence of Actions" (Jeffrey M. Vega); "New Service Innovations Are Required" (Mimi Bushman); "Block by Block Builds Success" (Neil Sullivan); and "Why School Intermediaries Are Needed" (William Bloomfield). (MN)

This document examines employer involvement in school-to-work (STW) through the lens of seven business organizations: American Society for Training and Development; Business Coalition for Education Reform; The Business Roundtable; Committee for Economic Development; National Alliance of Business; National Association of Manufacturers; and U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The first part of the document is a review of what materials published by the seven organizations have to say about the following topics: why employers are involved in STW (STW activities are consistent with and support emphasis on education reform, STW is part of a larger effort to develop a rational work force development system, STW is a strategy for economic growth); the National Employer Leadership Council Employer Participation Model (a model that was developed by the National Leadership Council and identifies ways employers can participate in STW by working with students and teachers, strengthening company practice, and building an STW system); and employer involvement in STW after the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 expires in 2001. In the remainder of the document, background information is provided on each of the organizations along with overviews of pertinent documents published by each organization. (MN)

A review of the standards developed through 22 national occupational skill standards pilot projects funded by the Departments of Education and Labor focused on how they are being used in education and how to improve their use. Although occupational clusters have long played a role in education, the mix of clusters and the use of them varies widely across states. Academic-vocational integration, another standards-related issue, is hindered by lack of a framework of information about career pathways and career progression. Foundation skills identified by the Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills have been supported by the pilot projects. The education enterprise needs to incorporate these skills throughout the learning process. There is a need for a support system to help translate industry and occupation standards into useful material for curriculum and instruction. Elements of such a system include the following: relevant assessment and testing tools, a program approval or accreditation process, staff and leadership development, information systems and services, and national and state networks. Among the recommendations for the National Skill Standards Board are the following: support expansion of current consortia/networks; promote cross-agency, standards-driven staff development; infuse standards into career guidance materials; enhance information collection; develop a roadmap to clarify equivalencies between workplace requirements and education needed; and use International Standards Organization processes for quality assurance standards. (KC)

Hispanic Americans are diverse, but researchers are often limited by available data that do not highlight their diversity. This report presents information about the total Hispanic American population, along with data on the largest subgroups that make up that total. Good and bad news about Hispanics is presented using data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census to describe them in terms of origins, families, access to jobs and education, population diversity, immigration, geographical distributions, and other demographic characteristics. Also included are data on the states and cities in which Hispanics live and information about how the Hispanic population has changed demographically. The report concludes with a discussion of the major issues facing Hispanic Americans, including family changes, undereducation, employment, income disparity and poverty, migrant groups, the rise of the Hispanic middle class, and voting patterns. Appendixes present four tables of demographic profile information, and four figures charting supplementary data. (Contains 4 text tables, 3 text figures, and 32 references.) (SLD)

This report was designed to help policy makers and concerned citizens understand the context, culture, and history that set the stage for Oregon's efforts to reform state government, including those areas of government that affect education. This text offers a "snapshot" of what Oregon is doing to improve results, such as setting benchmarks to measure progress. The state is crafting a decision-making process that avoids program proliferation and micromanagement, trusting people to do it right. Oregon is also using tools such as training, waivers from federal laws, intergovernmental agreements, and budget accountability to make programs meet broad community and state goals. Although the picture presented in this report is promising, there are some pitfalls. For example, although benchmarks measure what is important, there are rarely neat cause-and-effect relationships in the complex human areas that so many of the benchmarks address. Moreover, the data needed to support the benchmarking process often are not available or are not comparable over time. The report also explores larger lessons learned from Oregon's many waivers from federal laws and explores implications for federal policies. (RJM)

This paper reports on the progress of eight Chicago-based community initiatives designed to redefine social services and broaden social responsibility for the development of children and families. The paper has three sections describing: (1) general background on the children, youth, and families initiative; (2) early lessons from an initiative in progress; and (3) across communities: the roles of the sponsor, the evaluator, and learning. Specific topics covered in these sections include: (1) the purposes and possibilities of an infrastructure and creating a governance entity and process; (2) specific aspects of governance, developing and linking services, and access to services; and (3) the relationships and roles of sponsors within foundations, defining outcomes, balancing objectivity and engagement, process versus outcome evaluation, and the value of the learning process. The paper also includes information on related research from the University of Chicago's Chapin Hall Center for Children and on Chapin Hall's Comprehensive Strategies Forum on Handsnet. (JW)

The United States Congress enacted the Educational Partnerships Act in 1988. The Educational Partnerships Program (EPP) stimulated the creation of educational partnerships to demonstrate their contribution to educational reform. The Office of Educational Research (OERI) provided funds to 30 educational partnerships. This document contains five case studies, each of which focuses on one aspect of an educational partnership: an integrated-services partnership, a health-and-social-services partnership, a storefront program for dropouts, a school-to-work transition partnership, a curriculum-and-instruction-focused partnership, and a multifocus partnership. Some of the lessons learned include: (1) Outside funding stimulates action; (2) each participating organization is challenged to change policies and procedures; (3) partnership approaches require adaptation to fit each community, school district, and school; (4) organizational mavericks need support to strengthen the program; (5) a shared vision and deep commitment among partners can overcome program design weaknesses; (6) leadership is critical in a complex partnership; and (7) educational partnerships may be used to leverage additional funding for activities or to garner support for school reform in a community. The appendix lists members of the educational partnerships study group. (LMI)

A study was conducted to explore the motivation for (or against) employer participation in long-standing school-business partnership programs that offer substantive work experience and learning at the worksite. Information was gathered through a literature search, in-person surveys of school personnel and selected employers (n=21), a phone survey of a larger sample of 224 employers, and employer focus groups in 7 sites throughout the United States. A total of 18 secondary schools were included in the survey, along with participating employers. Highlights of the findings are as follows: (1) schools tended to have both worksite-based programs and programs without such a component, with work areas usually determined by faculty skills and the few resources allocated to the partnership programs; (2) the extent to which students learn occupation-specific skills varies greatly among work sites, with such tie-ins most likely in comprehensive vocational-technical schools; (3) the schools are usually able to place all willing students in these programs despite their lack of organized and focused employer recruiting; (4) employers are generally pleased with the student workers and consider them productive employees; and (5) employers are motivated to participate in the programs as much by the desire to acquire entry-level workers as by the desire for community service. Recommendations were made to improve the knowledge component of the worksite programs and to increase employer recruitment. (The survey instruments are included in the report. Contains 30 references.) (KC)

This report is designed as a companion to a three-volume report that describes how education and industry skill standards systems operate in the United States. It provides an overview of international efforts to develop processes and systems to "harmonize" the recognition of an individual's competencies and skills across national boundaries. Chapter I presents a general review of the international context and highlights generic differences between U.S. systems and all other countries. Chapters II-IV describe efforts in six countries to organize skill setting standards systems. Chapter II describes two countries that focus on the youth apprenticeship approach to training: Denmark and Germany. Chapter III discusses two countries--Canada and Japan--that focus on the development of skill certification systems for occupations that have a large amount of mobility across jurisdictions--the crafts and trades. Chapter IV focuses on the United Kingdom and Australia, in which the promulgation of skill standards and certification systems are viewed as central to the competitiveness strategy of the overall economies, and the development of the industry-driven skill standard systems are having direct impact on the organization and structure of vocational preparation institutions. Chapter V offers concluding observations. Appendixes provide references for each country's study (58 in all) and technical information on skill standards categories for Denmark, Germany, and Japan. (YLB)

This third volume in a four-volume study of industry- and education-driven skill standards in the United States and other countries contains information regarding industry driven credentialling and accreditation of programs. Section A includes descriptions of nine organizations involved in one or more components of skill standards/certification. They represent an emerging field with an emerging program; use of American National Standards Institute standards to drive the process and participation in worldwide certifications; certification only with no related educational activities; a program that has been developed to meet the needs of work-site training; organizations that have developed both occupational program certifications and individual certification systems; and two apprenticeship models. Section B is the inventory of organizations that shared information regarding their involvement with credentialling efforts. Programs are categorized into 24 occupational areas. Program information includes organization, address and telephone, contact, context, who is eligible, course of study required/prerequisites, levels of certification, how financed, who manages, standards setting process, occupational analysis, assessment process, maintaining and updating standards, partners, and information use. Section C contains a sample of accreditation organizations involved in the program approval process for specific occupations. Appendixes include summaries of the certification programs by industry and occupation and of occupations by industry category that are often licensed by the states. (YLB)

This second volume in a four-volume study of industry- and education-driven skill standards in the United States and other countries contains information on how the individual states have been involved in the development of skills standards related efforts. Section A presents information regarding how nine states--Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Oregon--have approached the challenge of development of a skills based education system. Topics covered in these summaries include historical development, general information, overview of the system and program, management issues and administration, financing, levels of certification, barriers, assessment, instructional approaches, and partnerships. Section B provides an inventory on efforts in 40 states and the District of Columbia to move forward the education/industry collaborative efforts to provide the necessary skills based education. For each state, the address and name of a contact is followed by descriptions of state leadership in occupational skills standards and related processes, assessment and certification processes, financing occupational skills standards and related activities, and usage of occupational skills standards. Appendixes include the following: a step-by-step explanation of how the current Vocational-Technical Education Consortium of States process can be modified for application to the identification and validation of national standards; illustrative examples of skills standards developed in 12 states; and survey instrument. (YLB)

This first volume in a four-volume study of industry- and education-driven skill standards in the United States and other countries describes current practice. Chapter I is the executive summary. Chapter II is an overview of historical and current issues that will affect a voluntary network of industry-based skill standards, competencies, and certification systems. Chapter III describes purposes and legal rationale for performing job analysis; alternative techniques; time factors, resources, and skills; and job analysis as typically practiced. Chapter IV lays out issues surrounding assessment as part of a national standards program: legal issues, technical considerations and guidelines for test development, and selected industry practices. Chapter V makes observations on the issue of terminology and common language. Chapter VI describes some key umbrella organizations that accredit accreditors, certify certifiers, or approve testing and assessment instruments. Chapter VII summarizes findings of a survey of state vocational-technical education agencies regarding their involvement in skill standards. Chapter VIII reports findings of a study of the role of national industry and occupation-focused organizations in the skill standards issue. Chapter IX answers six questions to clarify the scope of the roles for the federal government and private sector in the development and implementation of skill standards to improve competitiveness in the global market. The volume contains 71 references and 25 legal citations. (YLB)

Three early educational intervention programs designed to prevent mental retardation and to improve school readiness are profiled. The Abecedarian Project was begun as an experiment to test whether mental retardation, allegedly caused by inadequate environments, could be prevented by providing intensive preschool programs to children from birth to entrance into kindergarten. Project CARE compared home-based and center-based early intervention. The Infant Health and Development Program was built upon the intervention techniques of the other two programs, but included infants who were born prematurely and at low birth weight. Results from all three programs indicated that children who received center-based intervention had higher IQ scores at 3 years of age than control group children. Children who received the early intervention in the Abecedarian Project continued to exhibit higher IQ scores than control group children at age 12. Suggested practices for improving disadvantaged children's everyday lives include: (1) encouraging exploration; (2) mentoring basic skills; (3) reinforcing developmental advances; (4) rehearsing new skills; (5) avoiding inappropriate disapproval, teasing, and punishment; and (6) providing a responsive language environment. A 16-item reference list is provided. Appended materials include policy recommendations of the National Health/Education Consortium (NHEC); a description of the NHEC; and a list of NHEC members. (BC)