This guide for district and school leaders shows how to recognize opportunities to embed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) into planned policies or programs. Opportunistic RCTs can generate strong evidence for informing education decisions--with minimal added cost and disruption. The guide also outlines the key steps to conduct RCTs and responds…

Setting up a successful interinstitutional data-sharing project involves commonsense guidelines: be clear about what is wanted, take advantage of what already exists, use appropriate technology, staff adequately, recognize institutional differences, and concentrate on achieving insight rather than precision. (Author/MSE)

Key findings are presented from a survey conducted by the California Research Bureau showing that most California school districts incorporate violence prevention program curricula with a strong police and security presence. Many schools have installed closed circuit video surveillance cameras, canine searches, and metal detectors. Unfortunately,…

College and University Personnel Association (CUPA) presents its survey results of salaries of administrators in higher education for 1989-90. The annual survey offers salary data on 167 administrative positions at 1,390 public and private institutions to enable decision makers to evaluate their current pay levels and plan their compensation…

The preparation and use of data needed to make objective, useful comparisons in higher education are considered. The needs for comparative data in higher education, including demands for accountability and strategic planning, are reviewed. In addition, data-related problems are considered: problems of narrowness, misrepresentation, sameness,…

This report describes the variety of bilateral linkages which have been developed by U.S. institutions with specific Canadian and Mexican colleges in a wide range of fields. Out of 1,219 U.S. colleges and universities responding (35 percent response rate) to a survey concerning educational linkages, 109 reported linkages with Canadian…

An overview of college guidebooks examines their origins, development, types, impact on both consumers and colleges, and current trends and future prospects. It is argued that publishers will gain credibility by standardizing data collection and reporting formats and by no longer trying to rank colleges on criteria that change annually and fail to…

This 1989 report provides a statistical overview of followup surveys concerning college freshmen (in 1985 and 1987) students attending two- and four-year colleges and universities. The report's purpose is to contrast college freshmen responses with those given 2 and 4 years later to better examine how students change during the undergraduate…

This 1990 report provides a statistical overview of followup surveys concerning college freshmen students entering two- and four-year colleges and universities in 1986 and 1988. The study's purpose was to compare student responses as freshmen and later in their college careers. Additionally presented is a description of the methods used in…

This report provides a statistical overview of followup surveys concerning college freshmen entering two- and four-year colleges and universities in 1987 and 1989. The study's purpose was to contrast college freshmen responses with those given 2 and 4 years later to examine how students change during the undergraduate years. Additionally presented…

This paper explores the concept of benchmarking in institutional research, a comparative analysis methodology designed to help colleges and universities increase their educational quality and delivery systems. The primary purpose of benchmarking is to compare an institution to its competitors in order to improve the product (in this case…

Under the Drug-Free Schools and Campuses Act, institutions of higher education are required to review the effectiveness of their alcohol and drug prevention programs biannually. This guide offers a method for gathering and interpreting student survey data on alcohol-related problems based on the methodology of the College Alcohol Survey developed…

This report summarizes the results and presents statistical data (two-thirds of the report) of a 1988 followup national survey concerning the impact of different types of college environments on development of 1984 and 1986 freshmen. The survey involved the following general categories: satisfaction with college, talent development during college,…

This report studies the role of teaching in the faculty reward structure by examining the relationship between faculty activities (teaching and instruction, research and scholarship, administration, public service) and compensation. The study examined the implicit emphases given by academic institutions to various faculty activities. The data…

This report provides a normative profile of the American college freshman population for the fall of 1992 obtained from a national survey of 213,630 students from 404 of the nation's two- and four-year colleges and universities. The normative data presented are reported separately for men and women. The major stratifying factors are institutional…