Published annually, State Rankings features comprehensive state statistics making it easy to compare states across key measures in education, health, crime, transportation, taxes, government finance, and so much more. The editors compile useful statistics that would otherwise take an enormous amount of time to research making it a favorite resource on reference shelves throughout the United States and around the world. The rankings have been updated using specific methodology explained in the introduction. Geographic and data notes are also included to provide context. State Rankings compares every state and Washington, DC, in the following areas: - Agriculture - Population - Economy - Environment - Government finance - Crime - Education - Geography - Social welfare - Defense - Health - Energy - Housing

Published annually, State Rankings features comprehensive state statistics across key measures in education, health, crime, transportation, taxes, government finance, and so much more. The editors compile useful statistics that otherwise take an enormous amount of time to research, making it a favorite resource on reference shelves throughout the United States and around the world. Overall state rankings are provided as well as a complete list of all sources used to compile the tables. The rankings have been updated using specific methodology explained in the introduction with the most current available data at publication. Explanatory notes on the source and data are also included to provide context to each statistical table. State Rankings compares every state and Washington, D.C. in the following areas: Agriculture Population Economy Environment Government finance Crime Education Geography Social welfare Defense

The data presented in this combined report--"Rankings & Estimates"--provide facts about the extent to which local, state, and national governments commit resources to public education. As one might expect in a nation as diverse as the United States--with respect to economics, geography, and politics--the level of commitment to education varies on a state-by-state basis. Regardless of these variations, improvements in public education can be measured by summary statistics. Thus, the National Education Association (NEA) Research offers this report to its state and local affiliates as well as to researchers, policymakers, and the public as a tool to examine public education programs and services. Part I of this combined report--"Rankings 2015"--provides state-level data on an array of topics relevant to the complex enterprise of public education. Since the 1960s, Rankings has presented facts and figures useful in determining how states differ from one another--or from national averages--on selected statistics. In addition to identifying emerging trends in key economic, political, and social areas, the state-by-state figures on government financing, state demographics, and public schools permit a statistical assessment of the scope of public education. Of course, no set of tables tells the entire story of a state's education offerings. Consideration of factors such as a state's tax system, provisions for other public services, and population characteristics also are needed. Therefore, it is unwise to draw conclusions based solely on individual statistics in this report. Readers are urged to supplement the ranked data with specific information about state and local service activities related to public education. Part II of this combined report--"Estimates 2016"--is in its 72nd year of production. This report provides projections of public school enrollment, employment and compensation of personnel, and finances, as reported by individual state departments of education. Not surprisingly, interest in the improvement and renewal of public education continues to capture the attention of the nation. The state-level data featured in Estimates permit broad assessments of trends in staff salaries, sources of school funding, and levels of educational expenditures. The data should be used with the understanding that the reported statewide totals and averages may not reflect the varying conditions that exist among school districts and schools within the state.

"As James Madison led America's effort to write its Constitution, he made two great inventions-the separation of powers and federalism. The first is more famous, but the second was most essential because, without federalism, there could have been no United States of America. Federalism has always been about setting the balance of power between the federal government and the states-and that's revolved around deciding just how much inequality the country was prepared to accept in exchange for making piece among often-warring states. Through the course of its history, the country has moved through a series of phases, some of which put more power into the hands of the federal government, and some rested more power in the states. Sometimes this rebalancing led to armed conflict. The Civil War, of course, almost split the nation permanently apart. And sometimes it led to political battles. By the end of the 1960s, however, the country seemed to have settled into a quiet agreement that inequality was a prime national concern, that the federal government had the responsibility for addressing it through its own policies, and that the states would serve as administrative agents of that policy. But as that agreement seemed set, federalism drifted from national debate, just as the states began using their administrative role to push in very different directions. The result has been a rising tide of inequality, with the great invention that helped create the nation increasingly driving it apart"--

Designed to complement every introductory library reference course, this is the perfect text for students and librarians looking to expand their personal reference knowledge, teaching failsafe methods for identifying important materials by matching specific types of questions to the best available sources, regardless of format. Guided by a national advisory board of educators and practitioners, this thoroughly updated text expertly keeps up with new technologies and practices while remaining grounded in the basics of reference work. Chapters on fundamental concepts, major reference sources, and special topics provide a solid foundation; the text also offers fresh insight on core issues, including ethics, readers' advisory, information literacy, and other key aspects of reference librarianship;selecting and evaluating reference materials, with strategies for keeping up to date;assessing and improving reference services;guidance on conducting reference interviews with a range of different library users, including children and young adults;a new discussion of reference as programming;important special reference topics such as Google search, 24/7 reference, and virtual reference; anddelivering reference services across multiple platforms As librarians experience a changing climate for all information services professionals, in this book Cassell and Hiremath provide the tools needed to manage the ebb and flow of changing reference services in today's libraries.

Historian Seth Archer traces the cultural impact of disease and health problems in the Hawaiian Islands from the arrival of Europeans to 1855. Colonialism in Hawaiʻi began with epidemiological incursions, and Archer argues that health remained the national crisis of the islands for more than a century. Introduced diseases resulted in reduced life spans, rising infertility and infant mortality, and persistent poor health for generations of Islanders, leaving a deep imprint on Hawaiian culture and national consciousness. Scholars have noted the role of epidemics in the depopulation of Hawaiʻi and broader Oceania, yet few have considered the interplay between colonialism, health, and culture - including Native religion, medicine, and gender. This study emphasizes Islanders' own ideas about, and responses to, health challenges on the local level. Ultimately, Hawaiʻi provides a case study for health and culture change among Indigenous populations across the Americas and the Pacific.