The Teacher Compensation Survey (TCS) was a research and development effort by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to explore the possibility of developing an administrative records survey that would compile compensation and demographic data on all public school teachers in the nation. A pilot survey in 2007 collected data from…

Differential response (DR), also referred to as alternative response (AR), family assessment response (FAR), or multiple track response, was developed to incorporate family-centered, strengths-based practices into child protective services (CPS), primarily by diverting lower risk families into an assessment track rather than requiring the…

Geographical, economic, social and cultural barriers to accessing services in rural areas are widely reported. Less widely discussed are dilemmas posed by individual and community reluctance to address sensitive health issues. This article, focusing on the highly sensitive area of mental health, and employing a participatory action approach,…

An evaluation was made of PACE (Parent and Child Education), a family literacy program initiated in Kentucky in 1986. PACE was created because of the widespread belief that the state has a serious problem with undereducation of its adult population and the belief also that this problem is the result of persistent patterns of educational failure…

Criticizes current research for equating declining urban school enrollments with White flight. Describes a study conducted in Louisville (Jefferson County), Kentucky, in which birth rate decline and ongoing out-migration variables were considered. Shows that many White families, rather than leaving the community, actually transferred their…

A cost-benefit and system-analysis approach was utilized in an effort to study the quality of education in the State of Kentucky. This first report of that 2-year study relates: background information problems of measuring quality; methodology employed; rankings of the 197 school districts; and the input, output, and process variables. Two…

The recent conceptualization of organizations as "open" adaptive systems rather than "closed" systems has lead to increased interest in the relationship between the organization and its significant environmental influences. In order to study the perceived sources of internal (organizational) and external (environmental)…

Interviews with 108 high school teachers in eastern Kentucky, northeastern England, and St. Petersburg (Russia) examined cross-cultural similarities and differences in teachers' beliefs about influences on student motivation. The findings demonstrate how comparative research that relies solely on teacher opinions can be problematic. Studies that…

A general description of vocational education programs within the secondary schools of Appalachia, and an indication of where these programs can be strengthened to make the instructional offerings relevant to the jobs available to Appalachian secondary school students are discussed. Manpower supply is examined by enumerating enrollments in the…

An interim study was conducted in Kentucky to determine the effectiveness of Competency Based Vocational Education (CBVE) and to compare its effectiveness to that of traditional teaching methodologies. Research surveys of those directly involved in the implementation of CBVE were used to ascertain if CBVE is meeting its self-stated goals.…