A study examining various pertinent aspects of child day care is presented. Two questions are focused upon: (1) How does a community get group day care?, and (2) Once day care is obtained, how can the community regulate its quality? Also included in this study is an exploratory look at the clientele of day care centers--parents and their…

The purpose of this study was to develop a plan for alleviating problems in the collection, processing, and dissemination of educational data as they affect the New York City Board of Education information requirements. The Data Base Management concept was used to analyze three topics: administration, structure, and standards. The study found that…

Designed to guide and structure the needs assessment of Pennsylvania children with special health care needs, this document describes six specific steps in planning and conducting a needs assessment. The steps include: (1) stating the goals of the needs assessment, including fulfilling legislative mandates, identifying geographical areas that have…

This report presents results of a series of studies documenting current practices in the evaluation of gifted programs and investigating the factors which make evaluation more useful to decision-makers. The investigation involved establishing several databases containing three kinds of information: (1) abstracts of articles relating to evaluation…

The quality of educational data in Nepal was evaluated by investigating three questions: (1) the extent of reporting error in national education data; (2) accuracy of error estimation; and (3) levels at which error is introduced. Evidence suggests that data may be more accurate than decision makers suppose. (SLD)

Deliberations about social policy often center on estimates of harm or benefit generated by different interest groups. Problems in what is measured and how it is measured are illustrated by a discussion of research into sexual abuse and rape. Advocacy research is an unreliable foundation for social policy formation. (SLD)

Increased demands for colleges and universities to engage in outcomes assessment for accountability purposes have accelerated the need to bridge the gap between higher education practice and the fields of measurement, assessment, and evaluation. The "Handbook on Measurement, Assessment, and Evaluation in Higher Education" provides higher…

This report presents results of a study describing current state policies and practices to minimize or reduce inappropriate placements of minority students in special education. States were surveyed to obtain information about changes in their procedures for collecting data by race/ethnicity and their procedures to monitor local districts where…

The concepts of need and needs assessment are examined in the context of information needs for college administrators. A description is included of the conceptual framework underlying the Needs Assessment Information System (NAIS), which was developed by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. Attention is directed to: (1)…

Seven potentially useful maxims from the field of human information processing are proposed that may help institutional researchers prepare and present information for higher education decision-makers. The maxims, which are based on research and theory about how people cognitively process information, are as follows: (1) more may not be better;…

This paper defines a conceptual model for institutional research in the community college and identifies sources of information, programs, and services that provide data necessary for implementation of the model. The model contains four specific subsystems: goal setting, program development, program review, and cost effectiveness. Each subsystem…

Designed to provide Oregon vocational directors and teachers with a process for collecting information to be used in evaluating and planning vocational education programs, this handbook presents guidelines for both local annual planning and long-range planning. Various items to consider when reviewing an existing program are covered, including…

THIS BOOK COMPRISES THE MAJOR PAPERS DELIVERED AT A CONFERENCE ON MARCH 20-22, 1967, SPONSORED BY THE POLICY AND DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL, AN ADVISORY UNIT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION IN ONTARIO. THE CONFERENCE WAS ATTENDED BY REPRESENTATIVE PERSONS FROM DEPARTMENTS OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITIES, AND MAJOR SCHOOL SYSTEMS ACROSS CANADA. THE CONFERENCE…

What problems are involved in the development and organization of data sources used in a research project on student aid? Problems faced are: (1) using data from sources that had combined information into different categories; (2) incomplete data on a topic; (3) the disparity in the numbers of students or dollars reported by different data…

This document reports the Center's current thinking about PPBS and data-based educational planning. In the introduction, PPBS is defined, the usual conceptualization of PPBS is outlined, current pressure to adopt PPBS in public education is discussed, and current efforts at such implementation are reviewed. The second part deals with basic…