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A number of English language proficiency exams target grades K-12 English language learners (ELLs) because of the rising need to identify their needs and provide appropriate support in language learning. A good example is the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs (hereafter ACCESS), designed to measure the English language proficiency of students identified as ELLs. Every year approximately two million K-12 ELLs in the WIDA Consortium take ACCESS. After students complete the exam, score reports are provided to relevant stakeholders, including teachers and parents of the students. Because score reports are widely used by stakeholders for many purposes (e.g., placement, reclassification of ELLs), it is necessary to understand how they are interpreted and used in educational and home settings. Such information could be used to understand the usefulness of score reports and also to enhance their quality. However, there is little research on stakeholders' interpretation and use of score reports, especially in the context of K-12 ELL exams in the Unites States. Existing research is limited to teachers' interpretation of score reports (Impara, Divine, Bruce, Liverman, & Gay, 1991; Luecht, 2003; Underwood, Zapata-Rivera, & VanWinkle, 2007). For example, Impara et al. (1991) investigated the extent to which teachers were able to interpret student-level results on a standardized state assessment and the extent to which interpretive information provided on the reverse side of the student score report improved teacher understanding. Findings suggest that interpretive material helped facilitate teachers' understanding of student scores on the assessment. However, few studies have examined how stakeholders actually use the interpreted information. Moreover, very few (Miller & Watkins, 2010) have examined score reports from the parents' perspective. To gain a deeper understanding of the meaningfulness and utility of score reports, it is necessary to examine both educators' and parents' perspectives. The study on which this paper is based investigated how two stakeholder groups--K-12 ELL educators and parents--interpret and use ACCESS score reports. Findings from qualitative interviews offer implications for score report development in general and how to further enhance the quality of ACCESS score reports. In the study, the authors addressed the following research questions: (1) How do K-12 ELL educators and parents interpret the information in an English proficiency exam score report?; and (2) How do K-12 ELL educators and parents use the information in an English proficiency exam score report?

Building a stronger teacher workforce requires the thoughtful orchestration of multiple processes working together in a human capital system. This white paper presents a framework that can be used to take stock of current efforts to enhance the teacher workforce in school districts or educational organizations, as well as their underlying theories of how the teacher workforce improves over time. The paper refines and provides evidentiary support for a human capital system framework composed of four subsystems that ideally work together to build a stronger teacher workforce: (1) getting the right teachers in the right positions on time (Acquire); (2) supporting professional growth in school-based learning communities (Develop); (3) nurturing, rewarding, and challenging high-performing teachers (Sustain); and (4) informing evidence-based personnel decisions (Evaluate). Attention to this framework will engender a corps of teachers with the capacity and expertise to collectively facilitate enhanced educational outcomes.

Unlike many proposed educational reforms in the United States, charter schools enjoy support from policymakers across the political spectrum, making such schools a major focus of public school reform among educators and legislators. The origin of charter schools and how these schools are affecting education is the subject of this background paper. It defines what charter schools are, from the idea's inception in the state of Minnesota, to the characteristics of charter schools. The paper presents arguments for and against these schools and examines the key financing issues confronting those who wish to start charter schools. A case study of charter school legislation in Nevada is presented to illustrate the process for one state. Research indicates that the two most important issues facing policymakers in this area are whether private schools should be allowed to convert to charter status, and thereby receive public money, and whether charter schools can meet community expectations while being held to state-set student performance levels. Such schools can afford educators the opportunity for freedom and innovation in teaching and school management but can present governance and oversight problems for local school districts and other sponsors. (Contains 10 references and an appendix.) (RJM)

This paper describes Nevada's public education policy structure and the responsibilities of various administrative and legislative bodies, including the Nevada State legislature, the governor, the State Board of Education, the superintendent of public instruction, the State Department of Education; the Commission on Professional Standards in Education, the School District Boards of Trustees, school districts, and public schools. The paper also discusses governance issues regarding school-based management, charter schools, and school choice. The basic policy structure of Nevada's system of educational governance follows fairly traditional lines, being one of the more decentralized states in terms of regulatory authority. However, several groups that shape education policy are not referenced in state law: students and their parents, various businesses, parent coalitions, the Nevada Association of School Boards, the Nevada Association of School Administrators, and the Nevada State Education Association. The interactions among governors, chief state school officers, state boards of education, and legislatures are receiving increasing attention from those involved in shaping education policy. The biggest challenge facing state policymakers lies with defining priorities and reaching consensus. Contains one figure and 72 endnotes. The appendix lists education-governance structures in the 50 states. (LMI)

This paper describes the background of various accountability systems, discusses policy issues related to the use of educational accountability information, and offers a history of the school-accountability law in Nevada. The paper concludes that because policymakers continue to express concerns about uniform measurements and comparability, it is likely that nationally norm-referenced tests will continue to be used in accountability systems. The demand for quality information will continue and the level of sophistication and policymakers' reliance on accountability systems will increase. States will continue to use achievement scores as a component of any accountability program. The need for reliable analyses of the information provided by such systems will become increasingly important. Appendices contain information on states' use of report cards, two approaches to student-assessment policy, Nevada school districts' use of standardized tests during 1994-95, achievement data for Nevada school districts and counties (1992-93), an analysis of the Nevada school-accountability system, and the Nevada deputy attorney general's opinion of Senate Bill 511--the School Accountability Law. (Contains 18 references.) (LMI)

Public schools in the United States will face significant infrastructure needs within the next few years. Some of the numerous issues surrounding these needs, as they affect Nevada's schools, are detailed in this report. Current practices in Nevada have followed those of other quickly growing school systems in which funds are being diverted from routine maintenance and capital improvement so as to support programs. Some remedies to this practice, such as general obligation bonds or "pay-as-you-go" funding, are explored. For the benefit of comparison, capital construction in other states and varying levels of participation are presented. Some possible alternatives for state assistance in Nevada are covered, such as structural alternatives and financing alternatives, including state general obligation bonds, state revenue bonds, and state appropriations. Options currently under consideration in other states are likewise discussed. It is argued that the recent spate of equity lawsuits involving facilities construction in other states should guide any participation by Nevada in school construction; mechanisms to define state involvement should promote equity in capital expenditures. Four appendixes, which compose one-half of the paper, offer profiles of Nevada school demographics, the state's role in financing, needs assessment, and historical practices in state assistance. (RJM)

After decades of disinterest, evaluation of the performance of elementary and secondary teachers in the United States has become an important educational policy issue. As U.S. states and districts have tried to upgrade their evaluation processes, one of the models that has been increasingly used is the Framework for Teaching. This paper summarizes validity evidence pertaining to several different implementations of the Framework. It is based primarily on reviewing the published and unpublished studies that have looked at the relationship between teacher evaluation ratings made using systems based on the Framework and value-added measures of teacher effectiveness. The research results summarized suggest that teacher ratings made using evaluation systems based on or related to the Framework have a correlation with value-added estimates of teacher effectiveness, in the 0.2 to 0.3 range. Measurement error in both the value-added estimates and evaluation ratings likely bias these correlations downward. Though fragmentary, the evidence reviewed suggests that Framework-based evaluation ratings can show substantial inter-rater agreement and, if multiple observers and multiple occasions of observation are used, the ratings can be reliable. However, a score based on a single observation by one observer is likely to have low reliability. The paper also discusses ways to extend and improve validity research on teacher evaluation systems. "Inter-rater Agreement Details for Cincinnati" is appended to this document. The contributions to this research of current and former colleagues Steven Kimball, Herbert Heneman, Allan Odden, H. Alix Gallagher and Bradford White, are gratefully acknowledged. (Contains 6 tables, 2 figures, and 6 footnotes.)

In 2008, the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) produced a series of papers documenting promising practices identified throughout the field of K-12 online learning. Since then, we have witnessed a tremendous acceleration of transformative policy and practice driving personalized learning in the K-12 education space. State, district, school, and classroom leaders recognize that the ultimate potential for blended and online learning lies in the opportunity to transform the education system and enable higher levels of learning through competency-based approaches. iNACOL's core work adds significant value to the field by providing a powerful practitioner voice in policy advocacy, communications, and in the creation of resources and best practices to enable transformational change in K-12 education. We worked with leaders throughout the field to update these resources for a new generation of pioneers working towards the creation of student-centered learning environments. This refreshed series, Promising Practices in Blended and Online Learning, explores some of the approaches developed by practitioners and policymakers in response to key issues in K-12 education, including: Blended Learning: The Evolution of Online and Face-to-Face Education from 2008-2015; Using Blended and Online Learning for Credit Recovery and At-Risk Students; Oversight and Management of Blended and Online Programs: Ensuring Quality and Accountability; and Funding and Legislation for Blended and Online Education. Personalized learning environments provide the very best educational opportunities and personalized pathways for all students, with highly qualified teachers delivering world-class instruction using innovative digital resources and content. Through this series of white papers, we are pleased to share the promising practices in K-12 blended, online, and competency education transforming teaching and learning today. Additional resources are provided. ["Blending Learning: The Evolution of Online and Face-to-Face Education from 2008-2015. Promising Practices in Blended and Online Learning Series" was originally written by John Watson in May 2008.]

By late 2008, the United States was in the midst of its most severe economic recession since the 1930s, brought on by a collapse in real estate prices and exacerbated by the failure of many large banks and financial institutions. Heeding calls from economists, Congress and the Obama administration passed an historic law in early 2009 to stimulate the economy with $862 billion in new spending and tax cuts. This law, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), included nearly $100 billion in one-time funding for new and existing education programs, an historic sum given that annual appropriations for federal education programs at the time were approximately $60 billion. The largest single education program included in the law was the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, a new $48.6 billion program that provided direct grant aid to state governments in fiscal years 2009, 2010, and 2011. The program was designed to help states maintain support for both public K-12 and higher education funding that they might have otherwise cut in response to budget shortfalls brought on by the economic downturn. This paper examines how eight states and their public institutions of higher education used the funds to support higher education and what will happen to these institutions' budgets in fiscal year 2012 when the funds are no longer available. It uses information collected through phone interviews with officials in state higher education offices and at public institutions of higher education to determine how states distributed the funds and how institutions actually used them. Using this information, some general conclusions can be made about how the ARRA funds actually affected higher education in America and what is likely to happen once the funds are no longer available. While every state used the funds differently, the author and her colleagues find that the states they studied used the vast majority of their funds to support salaries and benefits for instructional staff. And while these funds played an important part in keeping these institutions of higher education financially solvent in 2009, 2010, and 2011, many institutions will face budgetary challenges in 2012 and beyond. This paper is the third in a three-part series examining these trends. (Contains 17 notes.) [For related reports, see "The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund and Higher Education Spending in the States: Part 1 of 4. Issue Brief" (ED540794); and "The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund and Higher Education Spending: Part 2 of 4" (ED540795).]

Each year, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) publishes the "State Teacher Policy Yearbook," a comprehensive examination of the state laws, rules and regulations that govern the teaching profession, measured against a realistic set of reform goals. For five years running, the full "Yearbook" compendium (www.nctq.org/stpy) presents the most detailed, thorough analysis of teacher policy in the United States, covering topics related to teacher preparation, licensure, evaluation, career advancement, tenure, compensation, pensions and dismissal policies. The next full nationwide analysis of state teacher policy will be released in January 2012, presenting the legislative, regulatory and policy developments achieved in 2011. In advance of the next "Yearbook," this paper offers a closer look into what is shaping up to be a very important education policy trend. With unprecedented momentum toward performance-based teacher evaluation across the states, the goals of this paper are to: (1) Present a detailed picture of the teacher evaluation policy landscape across the states; (2) Highlight noteworthy state policies; and (3) Provide early observations on current challenges. Appended are: (1) Links to state legislation/regulations and resources on teacher evaluation systems; and (2) Results of the states examination. (Contains 13 figures and 33 footnotes.)

Most educators, parents, and policymakers think of "online learning" as a subset of distance learning (where the students and teacher are geographically separate), in which content delivery and communication are achieved primarily through the use of computers connected by the Internet. However, online learning can be either distance learning or blended learning, with both supported by a new, robust instructional approach that takes advantage of the best elements of both settings. The advent of learning that combines online and face-to-face delivery is not merely a theory--it is already being developed and implemented by schools throughout the country and the world, and in some cases has been underway for several years. While some schools call this method of teaching "blended," others call it "hybrid," and others don't bother naming it--they're just implementing an approach that they believe is helping their students. This paper discusses definitions of blended learning and explores ways in which blended learning is being developed by numerous schools in an effort to answer these and other questions: (1) How does blended learning fit into current conceptions of online learning?; (2) How does blended learning help engage students and support their academic success?; (3) How are online learning and face-to-face instruction being combined effectively?; (4) Is blended learning meeting unique student needs that neither fully online nor face-to-face models can achieve?; and (5) What digital content and curricula are being used in blended learning? The examples discussed in this paper are not exhaustive. However, they illustrate some of the outstanding uses of blended learning in these early stages of its development and suggest opportunities for expanding its use and effectiveness. (Contains 9 footnotes.)

Research demonstrates that student-centered teaching strategies (tutoring, small-group learning, mastery-based learning, and individualized instruction) can help students excel. Many schools have turned to blended learning--integrating online learning into brick-and-mortar schools--to help implement these strategies sustainably and effectively. This paper examines how eight pioneering district, charter, and private schools and school networks with notable student success adopted blended learning and new staffing arrangements to better enable personalized instruction. Blended learning gave teachers more real-time student learning data so that schools could frequently regroup students, quickly respond to struggling students, and help teachers improve by pinpointing instructional planning and professional development issues. At the same time, innovative staffing arrangements helped the schools personalize learning by providing more students with great teaching. Key elements of these innovative staffing models included: (1) New roles for educators, often as part of a career path allowing development and support; (2) Intensive collaboration on small teaching teams; (3) Cultures of intensive coaching; and (4) Paid fellowships and residencies that enabled schools to train their own teachers.

This paper describes the complaint investigation process for rural remote areas of Nevada as required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Complaints are first filed with the Nevada Department of Education superintendent of public instruction. Complaints can be initiated by anyone and must state what regulations the public agency has violated and provide facts to support this claim. An independent on-site investigation is conducted by a team leader from the Special Education Branch who sends notification regarding the alleged violation to the agency involved, and selects an investigative team that could include university staff, parent advocates, and agency personnel. Team members are provided with appropriate materials to conduct the investigation such as IDEA regulations and various state codes. The team reviews written records that apply to the issue, interviews appropriate district staff, interviews the complainant, and then develops a written decision that addresses each allegation. If there are areas where regulations have been violated, an order coming forth from the report could include the development of policy and procedures to ensure compliance in the future. When violations occur, the district must develop a corrective action plan and indicate timelines for completion. Findings are then discussed with both the public agency and complainant to provide clarification and closure. Over the past 4 years, the number of complaints in Nevada has doubled each year. Specific reasons for this trend remain undetermined but are most likely associated with state population growth, active parent advocacy, and success of the complaint resolution process. (LP)

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires state accountability systems to include indicators of "school quality and student success" along with indicators of academic outcomes. The new law provides an important opportunity for states to broaden the definition of student success to include measures of students' social-emotional, as well as academic, development. Schools can support students' social-emotional development by fostering a supportive school climate, as well as through explicit instruction. When classrooms are safe and engaging, and learning is both supported and rewarding, students feel connected and efficacious--which allows them to develop the social and emotional, as well as academic, skills, habits, and mindsets needed to succeed in life. This paper provides a framework for considering how measures of social and emotional learning (SEL) and school climate may be incorporated in an accountability and continuous improvement system. We conceptualize such a system as multitiered, and designed to provide useful information about school status and progress at the state, district, and school levels. This report offers guidance on how states and districts might determine which measures of social and emotional learning, development, and supports they can use in different parts of their accountability and continuous improvement systems, and how they might use the resulting data. The authors consider (a) measures of students' social and emotional skills, habits, and mindsets; (b) measures of school climate and supports for SEL; and (c) measures of student outcomes, such as chronic absenteeism and suspension rates, that are related to school climate and supports for SEL. [For "Encouraging Social and Emotional Learning: Next Steps for States. Policy Brief," see ED606439. For the brief, see ED606775.]

This paper presents an overview of a 3-year, federally funded comparative study of 11 public school districts and 40 schools in metropolitan areas of California, Arizona, and Nevada. The purpose was to identify school districts that are successfully meeting the challenge of educating relatively high numbers of newcomer students (ethnic and language minorities and immigrants), to compare these districts systematically with less successful districts, and to search for models of success that might be shared. The communities were heavily affected by ethnic and language minority students in the 1980s, and differed markedly in their achievement-gain scores. Examination of their histories and local cultures led the research team to conclude that score differences were not the result of chance. There were three communities with proactive, responsive, adaptive, and innovative public instruction, and eight in more or less severe states of confusion and inefficiency. Superintendents who succeeded regarded cultural diversity as a strength of their schools. The evidence suggests that schools and districts can help to lift or to depress student-learning outcomes. The study supports current research literature in suggesting that very large districts have a difficult time succeeding if they contain large numbers of very disadvantaged students. (Contains 2 references.) (SLD)

K12 Inc. enrolls more public school students than any other private education management organization in the U.S. Much has been written about K12 Inc. (referred to in this report simply as "K12") by financial analysts and investigative journalists because it is a large, publicly traded company and is the dominant player in the operation and expansion of full-time virtual schools. Using federal and state data, Gary Miron and Jessica Urschel provided a description of the students served by K12 and the public revenues received and spent by the company at the school level. Further, they presented evidence from a range of school performance measures and strives to understand and explain the overall weak performance of these virtual schools. The National Education Policy Center (NEPC) sent a copy to K12 Inc. and invited them to send the authors a response to their evaluation report. Although the authors did not receive a response, "K12 Inc. Public Affairs" did prepare a document that was posted on their website that had fourteen bullet points, currently available on the K12 Inc website at http://k12choice.com/images/stories/K12_Response_to_NEPC_1.pdf. In this paper, the authors provide a brief response to these points. The following concerns of K12 Inc. are answered in this report: (1) Objection to the report's use of the term "falling behind"; (2) Pointing to K12 Inc.'s data concerning results of a "Scantron Performance Series exam"; (3) Pointing out new initiatives undertaken by K12 Inc. to support struggling students; (4) Contesting spending evidence from the report; (5) Attempting to minimize the importance and strength of the CREDO study; (6) Concerning the weakness of AYP measures; (7) Defending the company's teachers; (8) Concerning student attrition; (9) Concerning the company's internal "customer satisfaction surveys"; (10) Concerning students with disabilities; and (11) Concerning inclusion and exclusion of the company's schools and concerning data on free- and reduced-price lunch. [For the main report, "Understanding and Improving Full-Time Virtual Schools: A Study of Student Characteristics, School Finance, and School Performance in Schools Operated by K12 Inc. [with Appendices]," see ED533960.]

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) published a series of case studies from 28 states to showcase examples of how ARRA EETT ("American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Enhancing Education Through Technology") grant funds have impacted teaching and learning. SETDA collected data for the case studies through a variety of mechanisms, including a detailed survey of the participating Local Education Agencies (LEAs), personal interviews with grant managers and teachers, and reviews of state and local program evaluations. The case studies in this paper highlight powerful examples of innovations resulting from the federal state/local partnerships created by the EETT program. They illustrate what can happen when "seed money" in the form of federal grants is leveraged by states, local school districts, and individual schools. Teachers and students across the country continue to benefit from these innovative programs as shown by higher formative and standardized test scores, increased technology literacy and technology integration, improved access to both digital curriculum resources and project-based learning initiatives, and increased student engagement.

The Internet has had a profound effect on everyone's lives, work, politics, and commerce--and increasingly, on the schools. Virtual schools have arrived, creating new opportunities for students, and also a set of challenges to the notions about schooling and the policies that govern public education. The potential application of technology in education may change the way that current versions of schools and schooling are limited in time and space. Will future technological innovations revamp educational conceptions of time, like class periods, grade levels, six-hour school days, and 180-day school years? These units of time, as well as physical school buildings, classrooms, and district boundaries, still define "school" for the vast majority of students. Will this change in the coming years? These are no longer unusual questions. Online and blended schools challenge some of the most basic assumptions about schooling. They no longer place groups of children of the same age in an assigned grade with a teacher and chalkboard in a room for 50-some minutes at a time in 180 six-hour days. With virtual schools, there has been a move to learning that is not bound by time, space, and pace, liberating education systems from the confines of rigid blocks of time and uninspired configurations of space to better meet the needs of students. While the potential for true educational transformation is great, one must begin by creating a shared understanding of what online and blended learning is, and how it is best implemented. This is the first in a series of briefs aimed at improving authorizer practices for virtual charter schools. This paper will define concepts in online learning, including full-time and blended learning, and will discuss recent trends in growth and governance of various types of online learning and virtual charter schools. (Contains 3 figures, 4 endnotes, and a glossary of key virtual school terms.)

Online charter schools are one key subset of the K-12 online education landscape, which also includes state virtual schools, district-level online programs, private providers of both individual courses and entire schools, and others. As of late 2010, online and blended charter schools existed in more than 20 states, serving more than 100,000 students. Growth has been rapid, in the range of 15 percent to 25 percent annually, as parents and students seek new educational options. Despite the presence and growth of online charter schools, little research has been done regarding the practices of online charter school authorizers. Policymakers recognize that online charter schools present unique challenges for authorizers, but few best practices for authorizing online charter schools have emerged. Many online charter schools have been operating for five years or less, and some states are just beginning to open their first few online charter schools. In many cases, authorizing processes have not kept up with the rate at which online charter schools have opened, as most states are still in the early stages of developing authorizing procedures for online schools. To address this gap, the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) has begun a multi-phase project to review online-school authorizing practices and make recommendations to authorizers. The purpose of this initial stage of research was to conduct a preliminary environmental scan in order to identify key issues that authorizers of online charter schools experience. NACSA engaged with the Evergreen Education Group and Donnell-Kay Foundation to accomplish the first stage of work, which included in-depth interviews with seven key authorizers from across the country to identify similar key issues they are working to address. The key findings generated from the interviews are outlined and explained in greater detail throughout this paper. They are: (1) Charter school authorizing is still in its early stages of development; (2) Online charter schools present opportunities and challenges for oversight; (3) Accountability for student achievement in online environments can be unique; (4) Governing board expertise may be lacking; (5) Online special education can be a serious challenge; (6) Building process and capacity in authorizing offices is critical; and (7) Appropriate funding levels are still under debate. Online and blended learning have created new opportunities for hundreds of thousands of students across the United States. Online learning, however, is still new enough that practices are outpacing policies and, in many cases, oversight. The sustainable, long-term growth of online and blended schools requires that policy frameworks keep pace with educational practice. "Research Methods" are appended. (Contains 1 figure and 3 notes.)

This paper reports on the progress of a Nevada Teacher Enhancement grant, Reinventing Teacher Preparation and Licensing through Performance-Based Reform in Nevada, toward meeting its stated goals in the first year. The goals are: (1) Nevada will use performance-based licensing for licensing teachers; and (2) Nevada will have National Board of Professional Teacher Standards certified teachers teaching in the state. Significant progress has been made toward both goals. In addition to the first-year goals, an external evaluator has been hired, and an evaluation plan has been developed. The evaluation plan calls for continued reporting on the degree to which stated goals are met. It will also collect interview data from teachers, principals, superintendents, and other key stakeholders on their perceptions of the new standards and the degree to which they have improved the teacher induction process and quality of instruction in Nevada schools. This report describes the project status; presents budget information (actual budget expenditures for the performance reporting period); and offers supplemental information (focusing on the willingness of the stakeholders to meet together and propose solutions to problems encountered). A draft of the legislation to be adopted is appended. (SM)

Related services include transportation and such developmental, corrective, and supportive services that enable a student with a disability to benefit from special education. Rural school districts have difficulty providing services comparable to those provided by urban districts. Special education directors of 11 of the 15 rural school districts in Nevada responded to a survey concerning related services. The number of special education students in these districts ranged from 25 to 1,146, and the number of schools ranged from 3 to 19. The only three related services available in all districts were speech pathology, counseling, and psychological services. Occupational and physical therapy were available in the majority of the districts. Six or more of the 11 districts reported that audiology, social work, parent counseling and training, and recreation were not available. The most frequent reason provided for unavailability of a service was that there was no allocation for personnel in that area. In only three instances was a position open due to difficulties in hiring a qualified person. Only one school district reported that all related services were available. Most of the available services were provided to 20 or fewer students in a district. The primary way of providing services was through certified school district employees, but some remote districts provided services through independent contracts with service providers. Two districts provided services through collaboration with other agencies. Four tables list related services and present survey results. (TD)

This paper reports on how technology is currently used in nine schools that educators view as "promising" exemplars of technology use. Four elementary, three middle and two high schools from Arizona, California and Nevada (three schools from each state) were examined. Extensive document review and telephone interviews were conducted in preparation for two-person 1- to 2-day site visits. The schools implemented three types of technology: voice (internal/external telephone system with voice mail and electronic access to engage other technologies), video (within and between classes) and data (computers with electronic mail). The video category includes video cameras and computers for editing video productions, as well as television monitors, video cassette recorders (VCRs), and cable; the data category includes computers with Compact Disk-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) and laser disc capability, scanners and Internet access. Access to computer equipment was an issue at all schools. All but one school had at least one computer in every classroom; special education classrooms typically had computers for each student. Staff training and support depended on technology types, schools' equipment and availability of training personnel, the purposes and manner for which technology was going to be used, and the breadth and level of technology skills already held by the teachers. In terms of program development, four issues were encountered by the sites: community support, finances, facilities, and educational philosophies. Each issue was encountered during different steps of program development: planning, implementation, maintenance and expansion. All of the schools are striving to keep up with technology. Unfortunately, needs and demands for technology are outpacing the funding potential. Contains seven references. (AEF)

This paper examines how technology was used to enhance instruction in schools that are viewed as "promising" in their technology use by individuals in state education agencies. Four elementary, three middle and two high schools from Arizona, California and Nevada were examined. Extensive document review and telephone interviews were conducted in preparation for two-person 1- to 2-day site visits. Four schools reported that teachers actively used technology in instructional delivery; minimal equipment included a computer, Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) and large video monitor in each classroom for multimedia presentations. A few teachers incorporated online telecommunications into their curriculum and instruction. Students used computers for learning keyboarding or practicing word processing and graphics; students at schools with Internet capacity used it for doing research for class projects. Five schools offered video production opportunities for students. In terms of technology integration, three trends were consistent: (1) using technology in project-based curriculum, (2) concerns with articulation issues between grade levels, and (3) an increased legitimation of "technology as curriculum" at upper-grade levels. Staff training and support depended on technology types, schools' equipment and availability of training personnel, the purposes and manner for which technology was going to be used, and the breadth and level of technology skills already held by the teachers. Schools used two additional strategies to provide support for technology use: access to a variety of technologies and use of technology beyond the school. Contains ten references. (AEF)

This is an interpretive summary of information from a multiple case study of 11 school districts in California, Arizona, and Nevada conducted in the spring and fall of 1992 as part of a larger set of strategies to work on solutions to the challenges facing schools in metropolitan areas of the Pacific Southwest. Rather than presenting a set of empirical findings, this paper constructs a hypothetical district as a composite ideal, the "high-performance district." The high-performance district has a distinctive pattern of organization attributed to: (1) the school board, the superintendent and other administration, (2) the structure of authority and incentives, and (3) school programs and support facilities. Its programs are the logical outcomes of its history, and characteristically include innovation, a multicultural focus, high standards, and flexible organizational designs. The teachers are regraded as competent, treated as professionals, and provided with inservice educational programs. Community relations are characterized by respect for the cultural integrity of diverse households and opportunities for parent and family involvement. Four tables and three figures present information from the case studies. (Contains 12 references.) (SLD)

The seven narratives in this document were drawn from the reflective writings of administrators of color involved in the Nevada Project LEAD. Six school principals and one district administrator describe experiences they have encountered in managing ethnically and racially diverse elementary and secondary schools in Nevada. The first and last sections shed light on experiences shaped by such realities of the workplace as a strong organized teacher association; ever-changing political dynamics among school boards, community groups, and school district personnel; a burgeoning student population; rich cultural and racial diversity; parent and community support that can reverse suddenly; and frustrating resource constraints and bureaucratic regulations. The middle section offers personal reflections on what it means to be an administrator of color in public schools and reveals how race and ethnicity shape the school leadership experience. Specific topics mentioned include a clash between teachers and union contracts, involuntary principal transfer, learning to value one's ethnicity, mentors, attempting to change entrenched systems, and the importance of perseverance in striving for change. (54 references) (CLA)

Two questionnaires were given to a random sample of rural and urban elementary and secondary teachers as well as to mathematics methods students at the University of Nevada. The questionnaires were used to determine (1) the need for inservice and preservice metric education and (2) the present knowledge of the metric system of Nevada teachers. The data indicated: (1) a need for inservice metric workshops for both rural and metropolitan elementary levels, (2) the need is not as great for workshops at junior and senior high levels, (3) elementary mathematics methods students are not adequately prepared in the metric system, and (4) secondary mathematics methods students and junior and senior high teachers are more adequately prepared in the metric system than their elementary counterparts. This paper suggests a workshop for secondary teachers and recommends that a more relevant and comprehensive questionnaire be prepared to verify the need for a workshop. (JBW)

Each afternoon across the U.S., 15 million children are alone and unsupervised after school. The parents of 18 million would enroll their children in an afterschool program, if one were available. These are some of the key findings from the nation's most in-depth study of how America's children spend their afternoons. The 2009 report, conducted for the Afterschool Alliance, surveyed nearly 30,000 households across the United States. In Nevada, 388 households were surveyed for this study. This paper identifies Nevada's supply of and demand for afterschool programs, as well as the major barriers to its program enrollment. [Funding for this state report was provided by the JCPenney Afterschool Fund. For the main report, "America After 3PM: The Most In-Depth Study of How America's Children Spend Their Afternoons," see ED506748.]