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For roughly half a century, policymakers and researchers have debated the impacts of place, and in particular of inner-city neighborhoods, on employment, education, and mental and physical health. Research on programs that help people move to better neighborhoods has suggested that such programs can improve the life chances of low-income, mostly minority adults and their children. One important way children might benefit is by having access to better schools. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) launched the Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing Demonstration (MTO) in 1994 in five cities to try to improve the life chances of very poor families by helping them leave the disadvantaged environments that contribute to poor outcomes in education and employment. The demonstration targeted families living in some of the nation's poorest, highest crime communities (distressed public housing) and used housing subsidies to offer them a chance to move to lower poverty neighborhoods. The hope was that moving would provide these families with access to better schools, city services (police, parks, libraries, sanitation) and economic opportunities. Participation in MTO was voluntary. Those who volunteered were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups: a control group, a comparison group, or an experimental group. MTO focused on moving families into better neighborhoods and was not specifically targeted at improving educational outcomes. However, based on the findings from a housing desegregation program, MTO program designers expected that if families moved to low poverty communities, children could have access to better, more resource-rich schools with more advantaged peers, and that this access might lead to the children working harder and achieving more. On the other hand, children who moved to new neighborhoods and schools might respond negatively to competition from more advantaged peers, or teachers might single out the newcomers for sanctions. Two early studies of families in the Baltimore and Boston sites one to three years after random assignment showed promising results for experimental movers, especially significant improvements in school quality. In Baltimore, there was also evidence of positive impacts on reading and math scores. Follow-up research on the entire sample of MTO families at all five sites was conducted in 2002, about five years after the MTO families moved. Contrary to expectations, the results from the interim follow-up showed that children in the MTO experimental group were, in fact, doing no better academically than children in the other treatment groups. In addition, there were only limited improvements in school quality across the five sites. These findings have led researchers to conclude that MTO failed to provide experimental-group participants with real access to high performing schools and without access to better schools, there is less reason to think that MTO might affect children's educational performance. The mostly qualitative Three-City Study of MTO, a large-scale, mixed-method study, was designed to examine key puzzles raised by the interim evaluation, including the lack of effects on children's educational outcomes. The study combined qualitative interviews, ethnographic fieldwork, and analysis of census and administrative data. It was conducted in three of the five MTO sites: the interviews and ethnographic fieldwork took place in 2004 and 2005, 6 to 10 years after families' initial placement through the MTO program. This brief uses data from the Three-City Study to explore factors that seem to have kept MTO participants, who succeeded in moving to safer, less poor neighborhoods, from accessing better schools. Analysis suggests both the potential and the limits of a relocation-only strategy to affect educational options and outcomes for disadvantaged children. (Contains 5 endnotes.) [This report was produced by the Urban Institute's Center on Metropolitan Housing and Communities.]

In 2001, the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) released its blueprint for reforming the city's high schools. Central to the blueprint were plans to create eight innovation high schools and to convert all nine large, comprehensive high schools into smaller neighborhood schools. Since May 2003, the Urban Institute has been conducting a five-year evaluation of the implementation of Baltimore's high school reform efforts. Over the course of the evaluation, conversations with school personnel and key stakeholders suggested concerns that reform efforts in Baltimore had further stratified the city's high schools. In this report, the authors address such questions using student-level administrative data and the survey data collected by the Urban Institute. Specifically, they answer the following questions: (1) Are students enrolled in innovation high schools more socially and academically advantaged than students enrolled in other BCPSS high schools (i.e., neighborhood, comprehensive, selective and "other"/alternative)? Are the social and academic characteristics of students enrolled in the neighborhood high schools significantly different from students enrolled in the original comprehensive high schools or from one another?; (2) Do students in innovation high schools perform better (i.e., test scores, attendance) than students in other BCPSS high schools (i.e., neighborhood, comprehensive, selective and "other"/alternative)? Are these differences due to the characteristics of the students enrolled in these new high schools?; and (3) Do reforming high schools (i.e., innovation, neighborhood, and comprehensive) differ from one another on their implementation of the guiding principles (e.g., support, effective instruction and leadership)? Are any differences related to the characteristics of the students they enroll? And do the levels of implementation relate to student outcomes? The results presented in this report support earlier conclusions that while the reforminitiative was never fully implemented, there have been some promising signs across the system and within the reforming high schools. Additionally, findings indicate that innovation high schools had more positive academic outcomes and higher test scores and attendance than neighborhood, comprehensive, and "other" high schools, even after controlling for student characteristics such as previous achievement. The results also confirm some of the concerns raised about equal opportunity and equity. The following are appended: (1) School Types, Numbers, and Names; (2) Data Variable Definitions; and (3) Data analysis tables. (Contains 26 exhibits and 19 footnotes.)

This paper examines the pattern of incentives for work versus retirement in five state teacher pension systems. We do this by examining the annual accrual of pension wealth from an additional year of work over a teacher's career. Accrual of wealth is highly nonlinear and heavily loaded at arbitrary years that would normally be considered midcareer. One typical pattern exhibits low accrual in early years, accelerating in mid-late fifties, followed by dramatic decline, or even negative returns in years that are relatively young for retirement. We consider five states for specific analysis: We identify key factors in the defined benefit formulas that drive such patterns, and likely consequences for employee behavior. We examine the efficiency and equity consequences of these systems and lessons that might be drawn for pension reform. (Contains 10 figures and 1 table.) [This paper was supported with funds from the National Center for Employment Incentives at Vanderbilt University and the Center for the Analysis of Longitudinal Data.] in Education Research at the Urban Institute.]

Several high-level committees have concluded that current domestic and global trends are threatening America's global science and engineering (S&E) preeminence. Of the challenges discussed, few are thought to be as serious as the purported decline in the supply of high quality students from the beginning to the end of the S&E pipeline--a decline brought about by declining emphasis on math and science education, coupled with a supposed declining interest among domestic students in S&E careers. However, our review of the data fails to find support for those presumptions. Rather, the available data indicate increases in the absolute numbers of secondary school graduates and increases in their math and science performance levels. Domestic and international trends suggest that that U.S. schools show steady improvement in math and science, the U.S. is not at any particular disadvantage compared with most nations, and the supply of S&E-qualified graduates is large and ranks among the best internationally. Further, the number of undergraduates completing S&E studies has grown, and the number of S&E graduates remains high by historical standards. Why, then, is there a purported failure to meet the demand for S&E college students and S&E workers? Analysis of the flow of students up through the S&E pipeline, when it reaches the labor market, suggests the education system produces qualified graduates far in excess of demand: S&E occupations make up only about one-twentieth of all workers, and each year there are more than three times as many S&E four-year college graduates as S&E job openings. So it is not clear, even if there were deficiencies in students' average S&E performance, that such deficiencies would necessarily be insufficient to meet the requisite S&E demand. While improving average math and science education at the K-12 level may be warranted for other reasons, such a strategy may not be the most efficient means of supplying the S&E workforce. Workforce development and education policy requires a more thorough analysis than appears to be guiding current policy reports. The available evidence points, first, to a need for targeted education policy, to focus on the populations in the lower portion of the performance distribution. Second, the seemingly more-than-adequate supply of qualified college graduates suggests a need for better understanding why the "demand side" fails to induce more graduates into the S&E workforce. Third, public and private investment should be balanced between domestic development of S&E workforce supply and global collaboration as a longer-term goal. Policy approaches to human capital development and employment from prior eras do not address the current workforce or economic policy needs. (Contains 26 footnotes, 5 figures, and 3 tables.) [An earlier version of this paper was presented at the meetings of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management, October 2006.]

Studies have found substantial sorting of teachers across schools, with the schools with the highest proportions of poor, non-white, and low-scoring students having the least qualified teachers as measured by certification, exam performance, and inexperience (Lankford, Loeb and Wyckoff, 2002). Yet, there have been substantial changes in the educational policy landscape over the past five years. New laws, including the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), have changed requirements for teachers. Assessment-based accountability policies at the state-level have created standards and increased oversight of schools, especially those with low-achieving students. New routes into teaching, many with fewer requirements before teaching, have changed the cost for individuals to enter the teaching profession. These changes have affected teacher labor markets profoundly. In this paper the authors examine these changes, asking how the distribution of teachers has changed in recent years and what the implications of these changes are for students. They examine three questions: (1) How has the distribution of teaching qualifications between schools with concentrations of poor students and those with more affluent students changed over the last five years?; (2) What effects are the changes in observed teacher qualifications likely to have on student achievement?; and (3) What implications do these findings have for improving policies and programs aimed at recruiting highly effective teachers? This study uses data on New York City teachers, students, and schools to address these questions. The authors find that measurable characteristics of teachers are more equal across schools in 2005 than they were in 2000. Schools with large proportions of poor students and students of color, on average, have teachers whose observable qualifications are much stronger than they were five years ago. Nonetheless, a meaningful number of schools with large proportions of poor students did not demonstrate such improvement. Changes in these observed qualifications of teachers account for a modest improvement in the average achievement of students in the poorest schools. More importantly, the results suggest that recruiting teachers with stronger observed qualifications, e.g., math SAT scores or certification status, could substantially improve student achievement. The following are appended: (1) Average School Qualifications of Teachers by Percent of Students in School Who Are Black or Hispanic, 2000 and 2005; (2) Average School Qualifications of Teachers by Percent of Students in School Who Scored at Level 1 on 4th Grade ELA Exam, 2000 and 2005; (3) Average School Qualifications of Teachers in Elementary Schools by Student Poverty, 2000 and 2005; (4) Average School Qualifications of Teachers In Middle Schools by Student Poverty, 2000 and 2005; and (5) Average School Qualifications of Teachers in High Schools by Student Poverty, 2000 and 2005. (Contains 10 figures, 11 tables, and 10 footnotes.) [This working paper was published by the National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER). CALDER is a program of research by the Urban Institute with Duke University, Stanford University, University of Florida, University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Texas at Dallas, and University of Washington. It is supported by an Institute of Education Sciences (IES) grant to the Urban Institute.]

Flexibility is a lever for change that occupies an increasingly prominent place in federal strategies for educational improvement. Flexibility assumes that local actors are in the best position to identify the most serious problems facing schools and students and to determine how to solve them. Consequently, these actors should be given greater decision-making authority to allocate resources, including federal funds, to the programs for which they will do the most good. This study focuses on the additional funding flexibility offered to all school districts via the Transferability provision of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Under Transferability, districts generally may transfer up to 50 percent of their initial formula allocations into and out of the following Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) programs: Title II, Part A (Improving Teacher Quality State Grants); Title II, Part D (Educational Technology State Grants); Title IV, Part A (Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities State Grants); and Title V, Part A (State Grants for Innovative Programs). There were five primary findings from this study: (1) nearly 16 percent of all school districts reported using Transferability, but conflicts between district and state reports suggest there was considerable confusion about this option; (2) districts exercising Transferability and those not utilizing this type of flexibility were similar demographically; (3) under Transferability, Title I, Part A, and Title V, Part A, received the greatest influx of transferred funds while districts also moved more money out of Title II, Part A, than any other program. (4) districts reallocated funds under Transferability in order to make adequate yearly progress (AYP); and (5) reduced funding and spending restrictions led many districts to use the Transferability provision, though not all. Some districts did not participate in Transferability because of perceived adequate existing flexibility, the amount of eligiblefunds, and insufficient information about Transferability. The following are appended: (1) Methodology; (2) Data Tables with Standard Errors; (3) District Survey; and (4) Transferability Authority District Interview Protocols. (Contains 24 exhibits.)

The reauthorization of the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act" ("ESEA") as amended by the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" ("NCLB") relied on two notable policy instruments to improve education: accountability and flexibility. "NCLB" complements accountability with several new flexibility provisions. It exchanges greater accountability for results with greater levels of flexibility in how states and school districts can use federal education funds. The intent is to reduce federal red tape and put greater decision-making powers at the local and state levels for educators most in touch with students' needs. This study examines three of six flexibility programs--Transferability, REAP Flex, and the Local Flexibility Demonstration Program (Local Flex)--through nationally representative surveys and case studies of districts. This Executive Summary provides a brief overview of the three programs and then summarizes and compares the key results across the three flexibility programs. Volumes II, III, and IV of this report provide more detailed information on each of these flexibility programs. (Contains 2 exhibits.) [This document was prepared for the US Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Services by the Urban Institute.]

This study focuses on flexibility provisions in the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) provision of NCLB. Specifically, it addresses REAP Flex, a program that allows rural districts additional control over how to spend portions of their federal funding. REAP Flex is part of a series of NCLB flexibility initiatives aimed at rural schools. The four primary findings of this study were: (1) Half of eligible districts participated in the REAP Flex program; (2) REAP Flex authority was most often used to provide additional funds for services under Title I, Part A. Districts also commonly used REAP Flex to focus on programs related to Title V, Part A (State Grants for Innovative Programs), and Title II, Part D (Educational Technology State Grants). The program funds most commonly used for other program purposes came from Title II, Part A (Improving Teacher Quality State Grants), and Title IV, Part A (Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities); (3) Districts focused their efforts on targeting low-performing student subgroups and raising reading and math outcomes via improvements in technology and teacher quality; and (4) The primary reason eligible districts do not participate in REAP Flex is a lack of information. The main reason districts do participate is to address funding restrictions. The following are appended: (1) Methodology; (2) Data Tables with Standard Errors; (3) REAP Flex Authority District Administrator Survey; and (4) REAP Flex Authority District Interview Protocols. (Contains 20 exhibits.) [This report was prepared for the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, Policy and Program Studies Service by the Urban Institute.]

To expand knowledge about young immigrant populations and to document how the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) affects the education of English language learner (ELL) and limited English proficient (LEP) students, the Urban Institute was funded by the Foundation for Child Development to undertake a series of reports. This policy brief draws on this work to address the main question guiding the series: "has NCLB improved education for ELLs as schools have become accountable for these students' performance?" This question applies not only to the educational levels subject to the law but to pre-K as well, for which there have been spillover effects. After presenting an overview of the ELL population's demographic profile, this brief focuses on the findings of the statistical portrait of schools and the case studies to answer the main research question. The findings reveal that, while implementation of NCLB in high-LEP schools has resulted in some problems for ELL students' education, the net effect of the law has been positive because it has (1) increased attention paid to ELL students; (2) increased the alignment of curriculum, instruction, professional development, and testing; and (3) raised the bar for ELL student achievement. The brief discusses the implications of the findings and gives recommendations for strengthening the potentially positive effects of NCLB on the education of ELL students. By documenting the benefits of spillover effects of the law on pre-K education, the brief also looks ahead to the reauthorization of NCLB and the implications of expanding the law to include this educational level. (Contains 5 figures and 7 endnotes.)

The quality of a school building plays a critical role in student academic achievement as well as teacher retention. Yet, the majority of U.S. public schools are in poor physical condition, and nearly one-quarter are overcrowded, pressuring school systems to invest in both improving existing facilities and adding new facilities to accommodate growing student enrollments. Regional population growth mandates new school construction, while the condition of central-city schools and schools serving minority and low-income students creates the greatest need for upgrade and repair. This brief analyzes patterns of investment for public school construction in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area from 1995 to 2004. It considers the geographic distribution of investments, the allocation of resources for new construction versus renovation, changes in spending over time, and differences in investment for schools with differing student income levels and differing racial/ethnic compositions. The most substantial outlays across the region were for new school construction in the burgeoning outlying suburbs, where rapidly growing student enrollment mandated an expansion of school capacity. Spending in the District of Columbia and the suburbs immediately surrounding the District was directed more toward school renovation. School construction investment increased over time throughout the region, with the most dramatic increase occurring within the District, which in 2000 began the widespread renovation of old schools. Both population growth pressures and the need to improve aging schools influenced spending patterns across the Washington metropolitan area. However, local policy priorities and budget constraints also shape decisions about where to invest, helping to explain wide disparities in school construction spending across jurisdictions. From 1995 to 1999, investment in schools where more than 40 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch was below the regional average. However, starting in 2000, spending at schools where more than 75 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch increased sharply, largely reflecting increased expenditures within the District of Columbia. Construction was also below average for schools attended primarily by minority students (less than 15 percent white) and for schools where African-Americans are the dominant minority group, though these schools also saw small increases in investment over time. Schools with racially and ethnically diverse or a majority white student population garnered the greatest school construction resources. Unfortunately, data are not available to directly assess the extent to which school construction investments addressed problems of poor facility quality. However, the disparities in construction spending across the region are consistent with national studies showing that during the 1990s, schools serving high proportions of low-income and minority students were more likely to have inadequate facilities. Furthermore, despite increased spending in the District of Columbia, as recently as 2002 more than 40 percent of teachers in the D.C. public school system rated their school facilities as educationally inadequate. (Contains 21 endnotes, 1 map, and 9 figures.)

The goal of this report is to describe the implementation of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act in school districts and schools with large enrollments of English language learners (ELLs) and immigrant students. The study, drawing from previous research on the demographic characteristics of pre-K-5th grade students and of schools with high limited English proficient (LEP) enrollment, documents how this landmark legislation in education policy played out in three high-ELL districts and six schools (two in each district) and its effect on the education of ELL students attending these schools. The research, which takes a case study approach, addresses the following questions: (1) How has NCLB been implemented in high-ELL schools?; (2) What has been the effect of NCLB on the improvement of high-ELL schools?; and (3) What has been the effect of NCLB on ELL students in high-ELL schools? The findings and conclusions of the study, summarized below and organized according to the research questions, are based on extensive document review of district websites; interviews with district personnel; and site visits to schools. The following is appended: Three Districts, Six Schools. (Contains 25 footnotes.) [This report was written with Clemencia Cosentino de Cohen and Julie Murray.]

Perhaps the most ambitious example of the way in which flexibility and accountability have been brought together can be found in the State Flex and Local Flex demonstration programs. Although no additional resources are provided to participating states and districts, the enhanced flexibility granted under State Flex and Local Flex allows participating agencies to consolidate a potentially large body of existing federal funds and to use those funds for any educational purpose authorized by the ESEA. These consolidated funds are intended to support activities that help districts and schools to make adequate yearly progress (AYP). Participants in the State Flex and Local Flex programs are afforded the opportunity to exercise even more extensive flexibility than offered in other NCLB flexibility programs over a set of funding categories similar to those eligible under Transferability. This report focuses specifically on Local Flex--100 percent of formula funds from the following four federal programs may be consolidated: Title II, Part A (Improving Teacher Quality State Grants); Title II, Part D (Educational Technology State Grants); Title IV, Part A (Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities); and Title V, Part A (State Grants for Innovative Programs). The U.S. Department of Education commissioned the Urban Institute to conduct a series of interviews with district officials from Seattle Public Schools, the sole district exercising Local Flex. The purpose of these interviews was to investigate Seattle's experiences with Local Flex in order to provide information to other districts considering the option of Local Flex and also to examine the benefits and challenges of the program. While the Seattle Public School District is still in the process of fully implementing Local Flex, the initiative has already changed the way the district focused on strategic planning, helped to deploy resources to the schools and students most in need through expanded programs, and ushered in greater collaboration in the district office and with private schools. Interview Instruments are appended. (Contains 3 exhibits.)

This report tracks federal spending from 1960 to 2006 and uses current policy and some assumptions to project activity through 2017. The report looks at more than 100 major programs that aim to improve children's lives through income security, health care, social services, food and nutritional aid, housing, education, training, and tax credits and exemptions for their families. It provides the most comprehensive examination to date of trends in federal spending on children. It charts the relative changes---and therefore, shifting national emphases---between children's spending and spending on other programs, as well as among different types of children's spending. In this report, children are defined as residents of the United States under age 19. (Contains 3 tables and 19 figures.) [Focus First also sponsored this research. This report is an update and an expansion of the path-breaking work of Rebecca L. Clark, Rosalind Berkowitz King, Christopher Spiro, and C. Eugene Steuerle, "Federal Expenditures on Children: 1960-1997, Assessing the New Federalism." Occasional Paper Number 45, Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, 2000. (ED454306)]

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), enacted in January 2002, includes among its provisions new requirements for all employees providing instructional support (paraprofessionals, teacher aides, tutors, etc.) in programs/schools supported with Title I, Part A funds. The law stipulates that paraprofessionals or teacher aides must meet one of the following criteria: hold an associate's degree (or higher), complete at least two years in an institution of higher education, or obtain a passing score on a test that measures reading, writing, and mathematics competency. Two problems seem likely. First, schools that employ teacher aides could lose staff unable to comply with NCLB by the 2006 deadline. Second, the preconditions for employment might prevent many traditional candidates from being hired. The loss of bilingual and other aides could exacerbate the difficulties already facing high-poverty schools, because these schools tend to rely disproportionately on the use of paraprofessionals. The research described in this document focuses on areas where these high-poverty schools are found. A survey was conducted of all states and the District of Columbia, and of a sample of urban and rural school districts. To be included in the survey population, districts had to meet three criteria: high percentage of Title I-eligible schools, high percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch, and high percentage of teacher aides. Forty-four out of fifty states responded to the survey, as did 79 districts (35 urban and 44 rural). The key findings of this study are presented in this report. (Contains 2 figures and 4 notes.) [This document was prepared as part of the Program for Evaluation and Equity Research (PEER).]

This publication represents the first in a series of papers on alternative education for the U.S. Department of Labor. The main focus of this review is community- or district-based programs that have as their primary focus the re-engagement of out-of-school youth in learning in order to better prepare these youth to successfully enter high growth occupations and careers. This document reviews some preliminary efforts to develop a typology and define "alternative education," as well as several promising programs, models, and initiatives that provide out-of-school youth with real second chance opportunities. It then turns to the issue of how many out-of-school youth are involved in alternative education, how many need these options, and other evidence concerning youth who need access to alternative education programs. The final section discusses the current policy environment for alternative education, some of the funding streams available to support programs for out-of-school youth, and how underused funding streams might be tapped for this effort. The following are appended: (1) Promising Models of Alternative Education Programs; and (2) Sources of Noteworthy Attributes of Alternative Programs/Schools. (Contains 10 footnotes.) [This paper was prepared and funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. The paper is one in a series to be published in 2006 by the National Center on Education and the Economy.]

Long before the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina or the chaos of evacuation, New Orleans' social infrastructure was failing. News coverage of the overcrowded Superdome and the city's flooded streets exposed the poverty and vulnerability of many residents, especially African Americans. As New Orleans begins to rebuild, can the city avoid the mistakes of the past, instead creating more effective social support for low-income and minority residents? Innovation and experience from other U.S. cities offer promising strategies for reducing the risks of poverty and opening up opportunities for economic security and success. This essay is from an Urban Institute collection that addresses employment, affordable housing, public schools, young children?s needs, health care, arts and culture, and vulnerable populations. All these essays assess the challenges facing New Orleans today and for years to come and recommend tested models for making the city's social infrastructure stronger and more equitable than it was before Katrina (Contains 4 notes.)

In this paper, we describe the results a study assessing the relationship between the certification of teachers by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) and elementary level student achievement. We examine whether NBPTS assesses the most effective applicants, whether certification by NBPTS serves as a signal of teacher quality, and whether completing the NBPTS assessment process serves as catalyst for increasing teacher effectiveness. We find consistent evidence that NBPTS is identifying the more effective teacher applicants and that National Board Certified Teachers are generally more effective than teachers who never applied to the program. The statistical significance and magnitude of the "NBPTS effect," however, differs significantly by grade level and student type. We do not find evidence that the NBPTS certification process itself does anything to increase teacher effectiveness. Data tables are appended. (Contains 7 tables, 1 figure, and 49 endnotes.)

This survey represents a preliminary step toward demonstrating the diversity of motivations and circumstances that characterize cultural participation. This report examines only live attendance. The evidence presented in this report indicates the pressing need for additional analyses that make diversity a central facet of examining other dimensions of participation. The phone survey of a random sample of Americans age 18 and older was conducted during June and July 2004. The 1,231 people who participated represent a response rate of 45 percent. The study built on and extended an earlier survey of arts participation in five local communities conducted by the Urban Institute in 1998, also commissioned by the Wallace Foundation. The primary innovation of the present survey was that it includes questions about respondents' most recently attended cultural event. This information allowed the researchers to link specific types of motivations, experiences, and venues to attendance at different types of events, and thus compare their commonalities and differences. After summarizing respondents' overall attendance during the previous 12 months, this report focuses primarily on that section of the survey. In doing so, motivations and experiences surrounding cultural participation are also discussed. Likewise, attention is given to attendance at different types of music events to supplement current information. These analyses argue for recognizing the diversity of cultural participation, even within disciplines. Survey Questions: Paper Conversion of the Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview Instrument is appended. (Contains 10 exhibits.) [The Wallace Foundation commissioned the Urban Institute to conduct the study represented in this report.]

The main goal of this review was to identify mathematics and science curricula as well as professional development models at the middle and high school levels that had been deemed effective based on their success in increasing student achievement. Because of its emphasis on student achievement, this approach differs from that typically used at the local level and that adopted by other recent studies conducted to find "effective" curricula and professional development models.

Controversies over graduation rates and No Child Left Behind have raged in research, media and political circles for almost a year. All too often, though, when complex issues of social and economic importance collide with policy and politics, heat is generated but little light. As a result, it may be difficult for local educators to parse the rhetoric from the reality and to figure out what this all means for their schools and students. This article attempts to provide some practical insight into NCLB and its implications for graduation rates and to highlight some issues of particular relevance to school administrators. It is hoped that this piece will also point to areas where local school leaders may take increasing ownership of the search to find solutions for the high school completion crisis. (Contains 1 figure.) [This document was produced by The Urban Institute's Education Policy Center (EPC). It was also published in "Principal Leadership" Volume 5, Number 4, p22-27, December 2004 (see EJ766879).]

Achievement testing is the centerpiece of the state accountability systems mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Accordingly, the public attention directed towards achievement scores has largely eclipsed the crucial role that graduation rates play in NCLB accountability, at least until recently. As a new body of research on graduation rates is gaining wider currency, we are just now coming to an uncomfortable realization: the nation appears to be facing a crisis in high school completion. These findings have prompted much-needed investigations into several key issues: the origins of the law's concern about graduation rates; status of graduates and dropouts for NCLB accountability; the consequences of using different ways to define and measure graduation rates; and state strategies for incorporating graduation rates into their federal accountability plans. This paper draws on recent research and analysis from the Urban Institute in an attempt to clarify these issues and to offer a foundation upon which to ground on-going policy debates, future research into the graduation and dropout phenomena, and the shape of the next generation of educational accountability systems. (Contains 9 endnotes and 4 tables.) [This report was produced by the Urban Institute's Education Policy Center (EPC). This paper is a revised version of a presentation made to the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association in San Francisco on August 15, 2004.]

In an increasingly competitive global economy, the consequences of dropping out of high school are devastating to individuals, communities and our national economy. At an absolute minimum, adults need a high school diploma if they are to have any reasonable opportunities to earn a living wage. A community where many parents are dropouts is unlikely to have stable families or social structures. Most businesses need workers with technical skills that require at least a high school diploma. Yet, with little notice, the United States is allowing a dangerously high percentage of students to disappear from the educational pipeline before graduating from high school. Nationally, high school graduation rates are low for all students, with only an estimated 68% of those who enter 9th grade graduating with a regular diploma in 12th grade. According to the calculations used in this report, in 2001, only 50% of all black students, 51% of Native American students, and 53% of all Hispanic students graduated from high school. Black, Native American, and Hispanic males fare even worse: 43%, 47%, and 48% respectively. This report seeks to highlight these disparities to draw the public's and policymakers' attention to the urgent need to address this educational and civil rights crisis. Appended are: (1) State Profiles; (2) Methodology and Results of 50 State Survey of Graduation Rate Accountability; (3) Definitions of Terms; (4) National and State Graduation Rates; and (5) Promoting Power. (Contains 34 endnotes.) [This report also produced by the Civil Society Institute, (CSI), Newton, Massachusetts.]

Both the United States and England initiated ambitious standards-based education reform to eliminate large gaps between their highest and lowest achievers. England appears to be ahead, having started in 1988 with a national curriculum, tests, and performance tables. The United States' No Child Left Behind Act began rewriting state rules in 2002 with more incentives and punitive measures aimed at school performance. Viewing the contrasts as opportunity, educators and policymakers from each side of the Atlantic gathered in Philadelphia in mid-October for the second half of a dialogue on urban education. As talk moved to action, participants planned such follow-up activities as sending a delegation of principals and teachers from Georgia to English schools and creating a New York City school with British educators. With communication channels opened, possibilities seemed endless for comparing and analyzing data on education reforms. Inevitably too, all agreed, the education dialogue should expand to more countries. This policy brief offers highlights from their discussions. [The "No City Left Behind" dialogue was a collaborative effort of the British Embassy, HM Government's Department for Education and Skills, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) in London, Temple University College of Education in Philadelphia, and The Urban Institute. Additional support was provided by Glaxco SmithKline, The Lenfest Foundation, Thompson-Peterson's Learning, the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education and its Institute of Education Sciences through funding for the Laboratory for Student Success at Temple University's Center for Research in Human Development and Education.]

This catalog is concerned with the measurement of certain high school outcomes; specifically the progression of students through high school and the way in which students terminate their participation with the secondary education system. The catalog provides a basic inventory of the various methods for estimating high school graduation, completion, and dropout (GCD) rates that are currently being used by federal governmental agencies and state education agencies (SEAs). Following an Introduction, Section 2 provides a brief discussion of the high school processes and outcomes of interest in this catalog. Section 3 describes various types of data systems from which an indicator can be developed. These data systems are represented visually using a contingency table approach that closely resembles the kinds of aggregated, group-level data from which many agencies calculate GCD rates. Section 4 discusses different kinds of "rates" and the way in which data considerations intersect with mathematical formulations to define a statistical indicator. Section 5 offers a brief overview of several of the major sources of data on high school outcomes. These are the sources from which the most prominent, publicly reported findings on high school graduation, completion, and dropout are derived. Section 6 describes the review process used to identify indicators included in the catalog as well as the format of the indicator entries themselves. Finally, Section 7 presents the individual GCD indicator entries. (Contains 11 exhibits.)

While the transfer of policy between state governments is a well-researched practice, little is known about the state-to-state spread of programs generated and implemented by nonprofit organizations. In 1990, the nonprofit Child Care Services Association in North Carolina began an education and compensation scholarship program for 21 child care workers in three counties. As of August 2003, the program, now known as the T.E.A.C.H. (Teacher Education and Compensation Helps) Early Childhood[R] Project, had spread to 23 states and is annually providing more than 15,000 scholarships. This policy brief examines factors that supported, promoted, and challenged the transfer of the T.E.A.C.H. model to four states (Florida, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Washington). This research finds that effective policy replication involves multiple stages and a number of roles for policy advocates. (Contains 1 table and 2 endnotes.) [Elizabeth Reid and Jennifer Auer contributed to this policy brief. "Charting Civil Society" is a series by the Urban Institute's Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy.]

Chapter 1 of this document examines the need for alternative education among vulnerable youth by reviewing the numbers and characteristics of youth who disconnect from mainstream developmental pathways in various ways. The second chapter examines the question of "what is an alternative education school or program" and draws on a variety of elements from the literature to suggest the beginnings of a typology that might be used to define and organize the varieties of educational alternatives that currently exist and might be promoted in the future. Finally, Chapter 3 summarizes the findings of a roundtable on directions for future research on alternative education and describes the types of information and studies that are needed to advance the field of alternative education and foster more support for the development of high quality educational alternatives that all children can choose and benefit from. Appended are: (1) Factors that Place Students At Risk; and (2) Roundtable Participants. (Contains 8 footnotes and 3 exhibits.)

Immigrants compose an increasingly large share of the U.S. labor force and growing share of low-wage workers. Immigrants' hourly wages are lower on average than those for natives. Immigrant workers are much more likely than native workers to drop out of high school. Three-fourths of all U.S. workers with less than a ninth grade education are immigrants. Nearly two-thirds of low-wage immigrant workers do not speak English proficiently, and most of these workers have little formal education. Two of every five low-wage immigrant workers are undocumented. While the low-wage native labor force is mainly female, men dominate the low-wage immigrant labor force. Even though they are less likely to participate in the labor force, female immigrant workers are better educated and more likely to be in the country legally than male immigrants. Foreign-born women earn substantially lower wages than foreign-born men and native women. Although immigrants dominate a few low-wage occupations, such as farming and private household work, immigrants in these occupations represent a small share of all immigrant workers. There are more foreign-born workers in low-skilled manufacturing and services. (SM)

This paper examines immigrant participation in welfare, employment patterns and barriers among immigrant welfare recipients, and opportunities for and limits to enrollment in English as a Second Language (ESL) and other training programs while on welfare. It stems from interviews with public officials, employment service providers, welfare office workers, immigrant and refugee service providers, advocates, and others in Houston, Texas; Los Angeles, California; and New York, New York. It uses case studies conducted for the Urban Institute's Assessing the New Federalism project. It also uses Current Population Survey and 2000 Census data. Despite declining use of welfare nationally, immigrants and limited English speakers still comprise a significant share of people on welfare. Immigrants compose one-third of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) California's and New York's caseload and one-fifth of Texas'. Many immigrants on welfare have significant barriers to work (lower education levels and less work history than natives). Many job training programs have English language requirements that limit access to immigrants with little English. Proposed TANF reforms increasing the number of required hours of work and limiting the types of activities that count as work will make it harder for immigrants to receive language or vocational training. Combining an emphasis on employment with opportunities for developing skills could be an especially effective model for limited English speakers. (Contains 28 references.) (SM)

Education has become one of the most important issues in American society, often dominating the political landscape in response to lagging academic achievement and persistent gaps in performance between advantaged and disadvantaged children. In response, a variety of educational reforms have been implemented ranging from increased accountability to parental school choice and efforts to improve educational "inputs" such as teacher skills. An alternative strategy that has gained in popularity involves efforts to expand public and private investments in out-of-school-time programs, particularly those targeting the needs of disadvantaged children. Such programs provide opportunities for children and teens to have positive interactions with caring adults, improve socialization with other children, learn to avoid risky behaviors, and, last but not least, improve academic skills. However, students spend the majority of their time in these programs participating in extracurricular activities that are not designed specifically to improve academic skills. Consequently, this study asks two important research questions: (1) Does participation in out-of-school extracurricular activities improve academic achievement or behavior for elementary school children? and (2) If so, are the impacts of participation related to the types of extracurricular activities that students pursue (e.g., music and arts, language, computer classes, sports)? Initial analyses were conducted using relatively standard techniques to control for the fact that students who participate in out-of-school-time extracurricular activities differ in important ways from nonparticipants. These analyses found statistically significant and positive effects of such participation in arts, music, drama, and language classes. We were ready to write our report at this stage, but then tried to replicate our analyses using alternative statistical models. The results were not only highly dependent on the choice of analytical approach, but the initial positive effects disappeared when more appropriate analytical models were used. We then examined the current literature that has been used to support investments in out-of-school-time extracurricular programs and found that the reported positive effects are likely a result of the same type of analytical error that led us to initially conclude that there were positive effects for elementary school children. At a minimum, these results raise serious questions about the validity of many of the claims that out-of-school-time programs that do not directly target academic outcomes will improve such outcomes nonetheless. The results also suggest that more rigorous evaluation be conducted before further investments are made based on such claims, particularly where such expenditures are made as a trade-off against investments in other, possibly more effective, educational reforms. Four appendixes are included: (1) Detailed Descriptive Statistics; (2) Behavioral Scales Used in the Analysis; (3) Measurement Error and IV Models; and (4) Defining After-School, Out-of-School, and Enrichment. (Contains 54 footnotes, 1 figure, and 11 tables.)

The early onset of disability (at birth through young adulthood) can affect a person's employment outcomes in myriad ways. In addition to the direct effect of disability on employment, early onset of disability likely affects the acquisition of education and job skills (human capital). This reduced "investment" in human capital in turn may reduce the individual's employment and earnings prospects throughout their lifetime. If this is the case, people with early onset of disability may be doubly disadvantaged when it comes to later employment prospects. This study analyzes how early onset of disability (onset prior to age 22) affects employment opportunities both directly and as a result of reduced investment in human capital (education) for a younger cohort (ages 22 to 35) and older cohort (ages 44 to 54). In our young cohort, we find that people with early onset of disability have a lower probability of completing high school and a lower probability of being employed than those without disabilities. Lower employment rates result from both lower levels of high school completion and a direct negative impact of disability on work. In the older cohort, we find the employment of those with disability is lower than those without disability, regardless of age of onset. However, those with early onset of disability have significantly higher employment rates than those with later onset of disability (after age 22). We hypothesize that this is a result of people with onset of disability prior to age 22 either choose careers that can be more easily accommodated than the careers people with later disability onset have, or that people with early onset of disability are more likely to be adept at seeking and using accommodations than those with later disability onset. These results suggest that policies and programs to increase employment of persons with disabilities should focus on ways to increase education levels of those with early onset of disability. They also suggest that return-to-work efforts focused on older cohorts of persons with disabilities may want to separately target programs to those with early onset of disability. Sensitivity Analysis for Definition of Onset is appended. (Contains 24 footnotes and 12 tables.) [Research funded by the Social Security Administration under a grant from the Disability Research Institute at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.]

This brief examines changes in the number of naturalized citizens in the United States and the rate of naturalization, also exploring the size and characteristics of the pool of immigrants now or soon to be eligible to naturalize. Analysis of data from the Current Population Survey indicates that beginning in the mid-1990s, the number of naturalized citizens rose for the first time in decades, from 6.5 million to 11 million citizens by 2002. The share of legal immigrants who had naturalized rose to 49 percent in 2002 after a steep downward trend from 64 percent in 1970 to 39 percent in 1996. Despite rising numbers and rates, a large pool of immigrants, almost 8 million, is now eligible to naturalize. Of these, 2.7 million live in Canada, and another 2.7 legal immigrants are likely to soon become eligible to naturalize. Eligible immigrants who have not yet naturalized differ significantly from recently naturalized citizens. For example, those not yet naturalized have more limited English language skills, have less education, and are more heavily Mexican. A table shows the number of eligible and naturalized immigrants in each state, and lists the major destination and new growth states.(SM)

This paper examines the needs of children in grandparent care, using data from the 1999 National Survey of America's Families. Information on the children was obtained from the adult in the household most knowledgeable about the child's education and health care. Most children in grandparent care live with much older caregivers and caregivers with less formal education. They tend to be younger than children in the care of other relatives. While more children in grandparent care than in other relative care live with a caregiver experiencing poverty and health problems, caregiver struggles with housing and child care appear to be less for children living with grandparents than for children living with other relatives. Similar shares of children living with grandparents and other relatives live with food insecurity if the caregiver suffers from mental health problems. Grandparents care for children with similar challenges in terms of their well-being as do other kin caring for related children. Many children in both groups do not receive services for which they are eligible. Many child welfare agencies are adapting services to better service kin caregivers involved with the child welfare system. (Contains 21 references.) (SM)

This paper synthesizes existing knowledge, definitions, and themes about alternative education programs, based on a review of literature and reports, focusing on common terminologies to characterize the various kinds of alternative education programs. It seeks to develop a typology of existing alternative education by focusing on certain common characteristics. The review begins by considering how alternative education has been defined and described in the literature, including examples of legal definitions from state law, as well as more general operational definitions. Then, some of the many dimensions along which alternative education models/programs have been developed are examined (e.g., who is served through the programs, where they are located, what their focus or content is, and how they are administered). Next, some of the preliminary typologies that have been developed to date are examined. The review concludes by presenting some of the many lists of characteristics shared by promising alternative education programs, noting how similar the various lists of desirable features are. (Contains 20 references.) (SM)

Information on early childhood learning and increasing demand for child care services have placed a spotlight on the need to improve the quality of early education and care in the United States. This report focuses on five factors tied to the success of military efforts to develop an exemplary model of quality and affordable care in the Military Child Care System (MCCS) that are relevant to civilian programs. The five factors discussed in the report are: (1) training and education of child care providers; (2) linkages between training and compensation; (3) subsidies to assure affordable costs for parents; (4) licensing and accreditation standards to improve quality; and (5) inspections and oversight to establish accountability within the system. The report notes that although revamping the MCCS was not easy, effective change strategies were accomplished based on four basic tenets: (1) child care is a fundamental workforce issue; (2) standards are established and enforced; (3) the child care workforce is trained as professionals; and (4) program costs are shared among parents and employer. (Contains 15 references.) (KB)

This report examines the extent to which welfare reform is changing adolescent behaviors that lead to welfare dependency. It begins by discussing the provisions in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 that require teenagers to stay in school and live with a parent, concluding that relatively little can be learned from looking at individual state programs. Next, it examines previous research in this area. The current study used data from the Current Population Survey March Supplement, which contains detailed information on family characteristics, household composition, and income. The main sample included roughly 74,000 teenage girls from 1989-2001. Data analysis investigated the degree to which welfare reform was responsible for observed changes in dropping out of school, living with parents, and having an out-of-wedlock child. Results indicated that welfare reform strongly related to certain changes in teen outcomes between 1989-2001. It significantly reduced the school dropout rate of low income teenage girls, had little effect on living arrangements (except among young, low income mothers), and reduced the number of never-married girls who had children. (Contains 15 references.) (SM)

This brief uses data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 cohort to profile teen mothers under welfare reform policies. Initially, it assesses the extent to which teen childbearing among 15- to 17-year-old girls has changed between the start of federal welfare reform in 1997 and 2000. Then, it examines changes in teen mothers' living arrangements, school enrollment, and welfare use over the same period. Finally, using post-reform data, it compares the risk taking behavior of all teenage girls, teen mothers, and teen mothers who live with their parents to see whether living with parents is associated with less risky behavior. Results indicate that minor teen mothers are significantly less likely to receive cash welfare since the implementation of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, although there are no statistically significant differences in teen childbearing, residential choice, or school enrollment. Further, teen mothers are more likely to smoke, drink, and use marijuana than other teenage girls. Teen mothers who co-reside with their parents, however, are less likely to use marijuana than teen mothers in other living arrangements. (Contains 14 references.) (SM)

This paper examines the extent to which alternative education can meet the needs of disconnected youth who are at risk of economic and social hardship. It summarizes characteristics of disconnected youth, risk factors associated with disconnection, and characteristics of students in selected alternative education settings. The most common factors used to characterize disconnected youth relate to individual education and employment activity. The paper notes variations in disconnection by race and by state and distinguishes between short- and long-term disconnection. It discusses characteristics related to four areas: school completion and dropping out; teen pregnancy and parenting; involvement in the juvenile justice system; and leaving the foster care system. There are no consistent estimates of the number of youth in alternative education programs or schools, although there are survey data on youth enrolled in alternative education in or through public, private, and Catholic K-12 schools. Overall, mainstream education and public systems are not adequately meeting the needs of all high risk youth. Typical populations of students in alternative schools are dropouts, students with disabilities, and students engaging in health risk behaviors. Having students enrolled in alternative settings provides opportunities to reach out to them, address their needs, and help them reconnect to their education. (Contains 38 references.) (SM)

This study used state-level data on expenditures since 1977 to study the forces underlying the shift in state financing of higher education. The focus is on interactions between state appropriations for higher education, other state budget items, especially Medicaid, and the business cycle. The first section documents the substantial decline in state support for higher education over the past two decades. The second section examines the causes of that decline, focusing particularly on expansions in the Medicaid program and the implications for state higher education spending. The third section explores the effects of the business cycle on higher education subsidies. The fourth section briefly examines the impact of declines in state appropriations for higher education on the relative quality of public higher education institutions, which is to be discussed in more detail in a forthcoming companion paper. The principal reason offered for trends in state financing of higher education is fiscal pressure from other state budget requirements. The underlying story that emerges from this analysis is that pressure from other state budget items, especially Medicaid, has been crowding out appropriations for higher education. The pattern from the 1990s suggests that reductions in higher education appropriations are implemented during an economic downturn and then made permanent by failing to raise appropriations substantially during the subsequent economic recovery. (Contains 23 figures, 12 tables, and 35 references.) (SLD)

This study examined overall poverty concentration in the 1990s, also investigating how the composition of concentrated poverty shifted between different types of locations and by race and ethnicity, and how the changes took place. Data came from the Neighborhood Change Database and the 2000 Census. While things got better in high poverty neighborhoods in the 1990s, in most places they only got a little better. In 2000, conditions remained significantly more problematic in high-poverty areas than other neighborhoods with respect to every indicator. Poverty became less notably concentrated in the 1990s. An increasing share of high-poverty tracts were in the suburbs of the largest 100 metropolitan areas (15 percent in 2000, which is up from 11 percent in 1980), but central cities of those metros still retained a dominant if decreasing share. The share of all high-poverty tracts with predominantly African American populations declined markedly since 1980 while those that were predominantly Hispanic or with no predominant race went up. Changes in concentrated poverty were not primarily due to population growth or declines in a fixed set of neighborhoods. (Contains 12 references.) (SM)

This study examined the enrollment process for the State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and the outcomes of that process. Data were collected during spring and summer of 2000 through telephone interviews with state program officials from eight states selected based on a variety of demographic and programmatic variables; the states were Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New York, and North Carolina. States had a difficult time producing outcome data and varied considerably in data collection and reporting practices. The major findings include the following: (1) states have implemented many similar strategies for simplifying the SCHIP enrollment process, but simplifications to Medicaid policies and procedures are less extensive; (2) inconsistencies between SCHIP and Medicaid eligibility rules and requirements made enrollment more difficult and confusing for families; (3) in most states, less than half of applicants were approved for SCHIP eligibility, with a large proportion referred to Medicaid; (4) large proportions of SCHIP applications were denied for procedural reasons; (5) SCHIP programs ask families about existing health insurance coverage as part of the application process, and deny coverage to families covered by other insurance; and (6) state SCHIP and Medicaid data systems are highly variable in their capacity to report eligibility outcome data. Implications of these findings for future policy include the need to ensure that appropriate referrals for Medicaid translate into approvals for Medicaid, to consider available alternatives for reducing the number of children denied coverage for procedural reasons or incomplete submissions, to monitor the relationships between public and private health coverage, and to improve states administrative data systems. (A discussion of the limitations of state data systems is appended. Contains 13 references.) (KB)

Under the State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), states have the option to subsidize employer premiums for low-income workers with children. Given the potential for subsidized employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) programs to reduce the number of uninsured children, this study examined SCHIPs regulations and state experiences with premium assistance programs. In addition to a literature review, three states, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and Wisconsin, were selected for in-depth examination. Data were collected through telephone interviews with officials from each state and from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regarding the impact of SCHIP regulations, state implementation experiences, and lessons learned. Findings revealed that although state officials viewed premium assistance as a worthwhile means of expanding health coverage, the experiences of Massachusetts and Wisconsin suggest that subsidizing ESI programs is administratively complex due to federal requirements addressing concerns about crowd out--the potential that SCHIP might displace private insurance coverage. These states found that outreach efforts had to be augmented with specific efforts targeting employers. Enrollment procedures were complex, time-consuming, and challenging, especially the requirements to compare employee benefit packages to the state-selected SCHIP benchmark. Massachusetts and Wisconsin officials cautioned other states from being overly optimistic about initial enrollment, with Wisconsins enrollment currently at 47 families. Mississippi had yet to implement its program, but state officials were optimistic that it is a worthwhile strategy within the broader context of expanding health coverage. It was concluded that it is reasonable for states to question the efficiency of this strategy for reducing the number of uninsured among low-income children, given the limited target population and the small likelihood that federal regulations for premium assistance under SCHIP will be relaxed. (Contains 25 endnotes and 24 references.) (KB)

This study examined states efforts to retain children in their State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Data were obtained during spring and summer of 2000 through telephone interviews with state program officials from eight states selected based on a variety of demographic and programmatic variables; the states were Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, New York, and North Carolina. The major findings include the following: (1) states procedures for conducting SCHIP eligibility redetermination were quite similar to one another, but had not been simplified to the same level as initial enrollment processes; (2) less than half of enrolled children retained SCHIP eligibility at redetermination; (3) high rates of parents who do not respond to renewal notices nor submit renewal applications for their children may be cause for concern; (4) denial of eligibility for failure to pay premiums did not provide information on premium affordability because the denial code reflected several possible outcomes; and (5) state SCHIP and Medicaid data systems were highly variable in their capacity to report eligibility and redetermination outcome data. Implications of findings for future policy include the need to simplify eligibility redetermination procedures, to monitor the dynamics of families with children enrolled in SCHIP, to make renewal notices more user-friendly, and to improve states administrative data systems. It was concluded that if states are to make informed improvements in their eligibility renewal policies, they need either to invest in improving administrative data systems, or to periodically conduct research to understand better what happens to children once they lose their SCHIP eligibility. (Contains 11 endnotes and 9 references.) (KB)

This brief presents new information on the variations in family structure or living arrangements of poor children, by age and race, and analyzes the implications for current policy decisions. Data from the 1999 NSAF indicate that about half of poor children have two highly involved parents. This is the norm for poor infants but is less likely to be true for older children. Nearly two-thirds of poor infants have two highly involved parents because they are born into married or fragile families. Parents of poor teenagers are more likely than parents of poor young children to be divorced or separated. About half of poor teenagers live with single mothers, and divorced visiting becomes a significant arrangement for maintaining contact with their fathers. More than one-third of poor children are born into fragile families, with visiting the dominant arrangement for father-child contact. At no age are the majority of poor children living with a single mother and uninvolved father. Black children are much less likely than nonblack children to live with both of their natural parents because so few of their parents marry or cohabit. Fragile-visiting families are a uniquely important arrangement by which poor black children have frequent contact with both parents. Parents of older versus younger black children are much less likely to maintain their visiting arrangements. (Contains 15 references.) (SM)

Over the past 15 years, child welfare agencies have begun to rely increasingly on relatives or people who have close emotional bonds to an abused or neglected child to act as foster parents. Today, almost all child welfare agencies consider kin the first placement choice when foster care is needed, and approximately one third of all children in foster care are kinship placements. Kin are often not "prepared" to care for children, however. Unlike traditional foster parents, kinship caregivers typically have not been licensed or trained as foster parents, typically have no experience with child welfare agencies, and are more likely to be single, poorer, older, have less formal education, and be in poorer health than non-kin foster parents. This policy brief examines how local child welfare agencies serve kinship foster care families, and confirms that, despite the greater needs of kinship caregivers, they are offered fewer services than non-kin foster parents, they request fewer services of caseworkers, and they face barriers to accessing services. The brief identifies a number of reasonssome related to caseworkers, some to kinship caregivers, and others to agency policiesthat explain why kin often do not receive needed services. Findings in the brief are based on intensive case studies of local kinship care policies and frontline practices conducted by the Urban Institute during the Spring and Summer of 2001 in 13 counties in 4 states: Alabama, California, Connecticut, and Indiana. (HTH)

Summarizing findings from a forthcoming book, this policy brief examines when and how child welfare agencies rely on kin to care for children who are taken into state custody. The discussion is based on intensive case studies of local kinship care policies and practices; the case studies were conducted in 13 counties in Alabama, California, Connecticut, and Indiana. Findings revealed that the use of voluntary kinship care varied among counties, among offices within a county, and among individual workers. Agencies provided various types and levels of support to private kin caregivers seeking assistance from the child welfare agency. In California, Connecticut, and Indiana, as in most states, child welfare agencies used voluntary kinship care on a fairly limited basis, with few clear policies, procedures, or guidance on when and how workers should rely on voluntary kinship care. The result of this lack of policy was that kinship care could be used, intentionally or not, to influence birth parents and kin, especially in situations where there was substantiated child abuse/neglect. Alabama, like a handful of other states, used voluntary kinship care whenever possible. The brief highlights several issues regarding the child welfare agencies' role and responsibility when abused or neglected children are placed with kin, particularly that child welfare agencies must determine whether to treat kinship care as an extension of the biological family, or as a type of temporary substitute care. The brief asserts that additional research is needed that assesses the risk of different kinship care arrangements and helps guide child welfare agencies and staff in making decisions regarding their role and responsibility. (KB)

This paper addresses the debate over high school graduation rates, examining how the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) has redirected attention toward graduation rates. It introduces provisions of the NCLB pertaining to high school graduation, discussing implications from a measurement perspective, and presents strategies for developing a high school graduation indicator that are broadly consistent with new federal accountability requirements. An empirical study constructs these proposed high school graduation indicators using information from the U.S. Department of Education's Common Core of Data. These indicators are created at the district level for the high school class of 2000. Results generated by the respective measures are systematically compared, examining their point estimates and distributions, quality of the indicators from an informational perspective, and differential performance of the indicators when disaggregated by state and agency characteristics (e.g., minority enrollment and district size). Results reveal substantial differences among the alternative graduation rate indicators (e.g., the Cumulative Promotion Index and the Greene Method). The paper notes that indicators cannot be calculated for many states and districts due to missing information on the number of students who drop out. In cases where values can be computed, dropout-dependent measures appear to dramatically overestimate graduation rates compared to alternative indicators. (Contains 22 references.) (SM)

This brief summarizes the report "Essential but Often Ignored: Child Care Providers in the Subsidy System," examining child care subsidy policies and practices shaping experiences of providers serving subsidized children, particularly those affecting providers' payments and their overall experience with the subsidy system. Research on the voucher subsidy system was based on interviews with state and local child care administrators and key experts, and focus groups with caseworkers, parents, and providers in the subsidy system in 17 sites in 12 states. The study found that how much providers are paid is critical for them and was affected by several issues, including policies affecting the maximum amount that state subsidy agencies paid. A challenging issue for states was how to deal with providers whose rates exceeded the maximum payment rate. Policies and practices serving to undercut whether providers received from the state the full rate they were due included issues related to absent days, reimbursement for other fees, part-time subsidies, and reimbursement for full period of service. Although provider-reported difficulties in collecting fees from parents are not unique to subsidized care, such difficulties could affect what providers receive. Factors influencing how providers experienced the subsidy system included policies/practices affecting the payment process (obtaining payment authorization, onerous paperwork requirements, and timing and reliability of payments), the ease of interacting with the subsidy agency (number of programs/agencies, staffing responsibilities within the agency, interactions with caseworkers, and the extent to which providers were viewed as partners. The brief includes a list of strategies to address providers' needs and compares the financial bottom line of a hypothetical provider under three subsidy scenarios. (KB)