Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRIS)--a strategy to improve families' access to high-quality child care--assess the quality of child care programs, offer incentives and assistance to programs to improve their ratings, and give information to parents about the quality of child care. These systems are operating in a growing number of…

This study explored how and why special education policy issues were treated as they were in the formulation of Pennsylvania's charter school law, Act 22 of 1997. The qualitative study utilized formal and informal interviews of state policymakers, review of documents, review of archival records, and participant observation. Findings indicated a…

This document examines emerging issues and opportunities for community-based organization (CBO) involvement in welfare reform. The document begins with a brief section of background information on past CBO involvement in helping families move from welfare to work. The next section answers policy questions pertaining to the following issues: (1)…

Rural-urban fiscal and demographic differences were identified in local governments of Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. Census data and a classification system of urban and rural counties were used to analyze differences in local government revenue/expenditure levels and patterns, expenditure categories, population change,…