Search

Researchers evaluated On the Right Track, which works to prevent secondary conditions for Texans with disabilities. The three main goals are: science (knowledge concerning the magnitude and severity of disabilities and secondary conditions); service (promoting healthy lifestyles by increasing awareness of the need for preventing secondary conditions among consumers, providers, and policymakers); and leadership (strengthening the Texas Department of Health's [TDH's] leadership role in understanding and preventing secondary conditions associated with disabilities in the learning domain). Evaluation activities addressed process and implementation aspects. Researchers reviewed project documents and interviewed current and former project staff, TDH staff, key people at specific sites, and Southwest Texas State University researchers. The first 3 years were not totally successful in terms of the three goals. There were continuing contracting and staff turnover problems at all levels, shifts in project focus, and difficulties securing required approvals. The science goal was most problematic. Most of the research components had not succeeded as science projects by year 3. Service and leadership activities were more successful. A Web site became operational and accessible, and most promotional activities had occurred. Staff made substantial progress in bolstering the agency's leadership position in the disability policy area. (Contains 18 references.) (SM)

A study of Hawaii's JOBS WORKS! waiver demonstration project determined its influence on participant self-sufficiency and receipt of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). Hawaii received a waiver to lift the 8-week federal limitation on upfront job search, operate on less than a statewide basis, require 18 hours of work, and secure matched federal funds for implementation. About 6,000 individuals in the Job Opportunities and Basic Skills Program (JOBS) were randomly assigned to experimental or control groups. JOBS WORKS! offered immediate job search and readiness activities and job development and placement services to AFDC recipients waiting for openings in JOBS activities. Data were from administrative records of the Hawaii Departments of Human Services and of Labor and Industrial Relations. Self-sufficiency measures included employment rates, length of employment, amount of total earnings, and total family income. AFDC measures included average amount of benefits, exit and recidivism rates, use of subsidized child care, and rates at which persons were sanctioned for failing to comply with program requirements. Results indicated that rates and length of employment and total earnings were significantly higher for the experimental group. Experimental members experienced a 6.3 percent net decrease in average AFDC benefits and left the rolls at significantly higher rates. However, the experiment had no significant effect on rates of AFDC recidivism. (Statistical methods and detailed results are appended.) (YLB)

A study assessed the success of Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) programs by examining current approaches, featuring operational and experimentally based measures, all using the individual as the unit observation. The research used Program Year 1990 JTPA termination and associated program participation records in Illinois and Texas. Two principal measures of success were used: 155% of poverty (application of a factor of 1.55 to federally defined poverty income levels) and strict-steady employment (continuous employment, potentially with several employers). Participation patterns reflected the national policy shift toward more intensive longer-term services. The share of terminees continuously employed increased from 25 to 28 percent in Illinois from the first to the second postprogram year, but was roughly constant in Texas at about 35 percent; earnings success rates rose in both states. Longer-term program success rates were consistently higher for males, adults, whites, those with greater educational attainment, and those receiving no public assistance at enrollment. Two variables had the most pronounced and statistically significant effects on rates of success: prior work and earnings and securing a full-time job at termination from JTPA. Field interviews indicated that constrained choice and empowered counselors were associated with successful programs. (Appendixes include data tables and detailed regressions results for Illinois and Texas; and additional results for Texas adjusted for family status and size. Contains 49 references. (YLB)

This study examined ethnic community perceptions of the Austin Independent School District (AISD). It investigated citizens' assessments of the quality of public education, ethnic tensions in the schools, and the equality of resource distribution among the schools. It also examined variations in perceptions of the AISD by ethnic group. Data collection involved surveys and community interviews with white, Hispanic American, African American, Asian American, and other community members. Results indicated that public opinion about the AISD was mixed. One significant negative perception, which had greater consensus than any other topic explored, was that minority schools did not receive equal resources or treatment. Most citizens rated educational quality as poor or fair. Respondents with children attending AISD schools rated the quality of education higher than did people who did not have children in AISD schools. Children from lower socioeconomic status and minority group families were more likely to attend schools in AISD than children from higher socioeconomic status and white families. There was widespread perception that racial tensions existed among various ethnic groups in Austin schools. African Americans were the most alienated from AISD and the most critical of educational quality and distribution of resources. An appendix lists policy research project interviewees. (SM)

This report, conducted by faculty and students in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, describes a survey on and interviews regarding ethnic and race relations among Austin, Texas residents and community leaders. Its six chapters include (1) "Introduction" (the research approach); (2) "Ethnic Minorities and the City of Austin: A Retrospective View" (segregation policies, desegregation efforts in the post Brown era, and the "gentlemen's agreement"); (3) "Ethnic Group Relations, Tolerance, and Discrimination" (perceptions of racial and ethnic relations in Austin, perceptions of interethnic tension, ethnic tolerance, and patterns of discrimination); (4) "Ethnic Community Views of the City of Austin and Its Services"; (5) "Current Reconciliation Efforts in Austin" (the Austin Human Rights Commission, the Council for Community Reconciliation, the Citizen's Review Board, the Citizen's Policy Academy, and the religious community); and (6) "Conclusions and Recommendations" (a context for ethnic relations, major findings, and recommendations). Overall, race relations remain seriously problematic in Austin. Discrimination continues, with African Americans most likely to experience discrimination. Most Austin residents consider themselves tolerant. Most are satisfied with services provided by the City of Austin except for the Austin Police Department. African American respondents believe that all ethnic groups do not receive equal treatment from the city. Most respondents favor creation of a Citizen's Review Board. (SM)

This report examines specific elements of the School Violence Prevention Demonstration Program (SVPDP) of the Center for Civic Education, providing data from an assessment of the first-year SVPDP implementation process. Chapter 1 examines the state of violence prevention and civic education in American schools. Chapter 2 outlines the 1999-00 SVPDP research strategy and design, the program's first-year implementation plan, and the challenges of balancing the SVPDP's implementation and research objectives. Chapter 3 profiles the seven first-year SVPDP pilot districts, highlighting characteristics shaping the program's implementation in each district. Chapters 4-8 assess the seven pilot sites' first year implementation, identifying the influence of several classroom, school, school district, and community factors: SVPDP site coordinators and site evaluators; SVPDP teachers and teacher training workshops; SVPDP curricular materials and culminating activities; the physical, instructional, and policy environments of the SVPDP classrooms and schools; and SVPDP-related school district, parent, and community factors. Chapter 9 concludes by affirming the importance of curriculum-based civic education programs such as the SVPDP, recommending key action steps to support the sound, long-term use of civic education curricular materials for school violence prevention. Five appendixes contain questionnaires and curriculum outlines. (SM)

Civic education plays an essential role in strengthening the democratic society, preparing informed citizens, and promoting their participation in the civic life of their communities. This project explores state K-12 civic education policies and related requirements nationwide, as well as factors that shape K-12 civic education policies and practices in school districts and schools. The first two chapters of this report provide the national and state contexts for content standards in core subject areas, including civics; review state constitutional provisions and statutes that promote civic education; and examine how social studies standards, assessment, teacher certification, and other state policies build on these provisions and statutes. Recognizing the centrality of state standards, chapters 3 through 5 examine the extent to which the civics content in state standards promotes civic dispositions, civic intellectual skills, and civic knowledge, respectively. Chapters 6 through 11 examine several influences on civic education at the district level: standards; instructional materials; assessment; professional development; extracurricular and co-curricular activities; and individuals, organizations, and funding. Chapter 12 provides recommendations for developing sustainable state and school district civics commitments that ensure systematic attention to civic education in grades K-12. Key findings from the project report are included, as are extensive chapter notes, and 47 tables of data. Seven appendices contain additional information. (BT)

The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs has established interdisciplinary research on policy problems as the core of its educational program. A major part of this program is the policy research project, in the course of which three faculty members, each from a different profession or discipline, and about 15 graduate students with diverse backgrounds, research a policy issue of concern to an agency of government. This document is a report of one of the policy research projects conducted during 1973-74. Following a brief overview of the postsecondary education organizational environment in Texas (chapter 2), consideration is given (chapter 3) to county-to-institution student flows and their implications for institutional development. Statistical analysis of the Austin-San Antonio region of Texas is provided in chapter 4. Chapter 5 approaches institutional and program development from a regional perspective and examines in detail the intrainstitutional program development procedures and interinstitutional coordination in the Austin-San Antonio region. Areas for future investigation are noted in chapter 4. (Author/KE)

The Lower Rio Grande Valley of South Texas consists of three counties: Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy. Poverty pervades in the Valley, especially in the colonias ("a poor, rural unincorporated community with 20 or more dwelling units, where home ownership is the rule"). Colonia residents are almost exclusively Mexican Americans. Contributing to the problems of colonia residents is the physical and legal isolation of the colonias. The colonias are physically isolated from urban areas where the residents might obtain health care, education, low-cost food, and other necessities. Since the colonias are not part of towns and cities, they cannot benefit from those governmental units' taxes, nor from the Federal and state programs administered by towns and cities. Colonias are also faced with water-related problems, i.e., access to clean drinking water and sanitary sewage disposal. A 1975-76 Policy Research Project examined the water-related problems of the colonias. This report gives a brief overview of the demographic and economic characteristics of the Valley, presents an overview of the Valley's water resources, examines the current water supply and sewage disposal systems of the colonias, considers the cost estimates for provision of water and sewage systems of the colonias, explores the institutional alternatives for water and sewage treatment, and examines the current situation of land-use management in Texas and in the Valley. Appended is a discussion of the colonias as rural housing. (NQ)

This report describes and evaluates the initial effects of the 1984 Texas Education Reform Bill (House Bill 72), in which the Texas legislature enacted a massive attempt to enhance both equity and effectiveness in the State's system of elementary and secondary education. Chapter 1 describes the Bill's various financing components and focuses on its initial effect on disparities in spending among rich and poor districts. Chapter 2 examines the various reforms aimed at improving the quality of teaching, and Chapter 3 focuses on the provisions that affect students. Chapters 4-7 deal with the effects of House Bill 72 on programs which seek to provide special educational services (compensatory education, bilingual education, special education, and vocational education). Chapter 8 describes the implementation of new prekindergarten and summer preschool programs. Chapter 9 discusses the difficulty of implementing curriculum reforms at the State and local levels, and focuses on the confusion that has resulted from House Bill 72's requirements and those of a 1981 law, House Bill 246, which called for different types of reform. Finally, Chapter 10 presents general conclusions and recommendations. The study uncovered widespread satisfaction with the general direction of reform, it is said, except in certain areas where implementation of the law has been difficult. The State, it is argued, must be willing to accept that education is likely to be more expensive in the future. (KH)

Civic education seeks to engage students in their communities by teaching them the necessary skills to effectively participate in society. The middle school years are a crucial time for the development of civic roles and responsibilities. The report documents "We the People...Project Citizen," a national civic education program for middle school students developed by the Center for Civic Education (CCE) in collaboration with the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). It states that "Project Citizen" implementation began during the 1995-96 school year, and that in just 3 years, it has blossomed into a national program with state coordinators in 45 states. The report provides background information about civic education and "Project Citizen" and sets the national context. Seven key areas of "Project Citizen" implementation are examined and recommendations are offered for getting the maximum out of implementation efforts in each of these areas. Overarching and long-term recommendations for building a strong framework to solidify and expand the use of "Project Citizen" nationally are presented. Includes extensive tables of data. Appendixes contain "Project Citizen" state summaries, a state coordinator contact list, an evaluation plan, a state coordinator survey (November 1997), a state coordinator survey, a teacher survey (January 1998), a student survey (January 1998), and sample "Project Citizen" letters. (BT)

In 1981, Texas embarked on a 10-year period of educational reform. This report presents findings of a policy research project that documented and analyzed these reforms to serve as a guide for future policy developments. Following the introduction, chapter 2, entitled "Student Reforms," addresses issues of curriculum, assessment and dropout reduction. Chapter 3, on "Teacher Reforms," describes initiatives passed to improve teacher quality and to attract and retain good teachers. Topics discussed in the fourth chapter, concerning governance and accountability reforms, include decentralizing the decision making process, establishing statewide goals and standards, and accrediting school districts (with suitable awards and incentives). are discussed in the fourth chapter. The concluding chapter summarizes the school finance reforms of the past decade and considers the dilemma of how to improve financial equity. Four tables are included. The appendix contains a summary of state educational reform legislation. (Contains 117 notes.) (LMI)

Recognizing the difficult time most youths face in finding a good job after high school graduation, the Austin (Texas) Independent School District developed strategies to improve the transition. A high level of collaborative activity was already underway in Austin between the school district and the community, but most programs had been started without linkage to each other or to the curriculum or instructional practices. Recommendations were made to design a system that would do the following: (1) improve career foundations (enhanced basic skills, thinking skills, personal traits, and career awareness and exploration for all youth; to develop learning and training records and career passports to document and signal career foundations, achievements, and experience); and (2) develop learning and training paths from high school into career opportunities in the workplace. Key principles underlying this strategy are to improve communication between industry and school personnel and to link work opportunities to effort and achievement in school, thereby strengthening incentives for students to learn. A proposal was made to implement the program with one school feeder school system in the district as a model. (Contains 189 references.) (KC)

The divergent cultural patterns, philosophies of education, and basic structures of government in Japan and the United States have resulted in distinct differences between the educational systems of the two countries. The national government strictly regulates all aspects of Japanese education (including student achievement levels and the competencies taught in training programs), whereas education in the United States is characterized by relatively low levels of federal intervention. About 50 percent of the material covered by Japanese vocational students is on general academic subjects; vocational programs in the United States focus largely on specific technical skills. The Japanese government provides financial assistance directly to educational institutions, which in turn require lower tuition rates from students than those required in the United States. Unlike Japan, the United States supplies significant amounts of educational assistance through government guaranteed loans. A survey of a sample of 100 Texas student loan recipients indicated failure to find a well-paying job in one's field of training and the perception that the education received was not worth the money as two reasons why many student loans are not repaid. (The survey questionnaire is appended, the bibliography lists 60 references, and 18 tables and 16 figures are included.) (MN)