total children and children in poverty in the age ranges served by their programs. This change in the allocation process may have been due in part to congressional concerns that some states may have been enrolling some students in special education programs when it was not appropriate.

Several of the subprograms in the highway program use formulas with elements, such as lane miles and vehicle miles, for which data are provided by the states. In the Title I education program, the data on per pupil expenditures are reported by the states to the U.S. Department of Education. At the April 2000 Workshop on Formulas for Allocating Program Funds, it was reported that California had recently changed its method of counting school attendance (the denominator of per pupil expenditures) in an effort to increase its share. Unlike most states, it had previously defined attendance to include excused absences, thus putting itself at a disadvantage in relation to states that were not including them (National Research Council, 2001:22).

Burnam, M.A., P. Reuter, J.L. Adams, A.R. Palmer, K.E. Model, J.E. Rolph, J.Z. Heilbrunn, G.N. Marshall, D. McCaffrey, S.L. Wenzel, and R.C. Kessler 1997 Review and Evaluation of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Block Grant Allotment Formula. RAND Drug Policy Research Center, MR-533-HHS. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.

National Research Council 2001 Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report. Panel on Formula Allocations. T. Louis, T. Jabine, and A. Schirm, eds. Committee on National Statistics, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.