Empirically evaluates three measures of effectiveness of school district cash management: the rate of return method in common use and two new measures--efficiency rating and Net Present Value (NPV). The NPV approach allows examination of efficiency and provides a framework for evaluating other areas of educational policy. (Author/IRT)

Deals with decision-making in the light of monetary values, with emphasis on minimizing educational losses. (Author)

The procedure was to isolate the component variables and then to formulate the logical and mathematical rules governing their interaction. Students were classified by age, grade, and sex; also, their entry to, movement through, and graduation from the system were examined. (Author)

Proposes an enhanced approach to teaching topics in ecology--an approach that uses mathematical models and A Programming Language (APL) to produce short, quickly comprehensible computer "programs" that can be run to allow students to study the behavior of a particular model. (Author/IRT)

Describes and provides a simulation of an input-output, goal-programing technique that uses efficiency criteria as prerequisites for state aid payments and provides for the sharing of managerial know-how between the state and local school districts. (Author/IRT)

This pilot simulation study examines the important methodological problems involved in costing educational wastage, focusing specifically on the cost implications of educational wastage in primary education. Purpose of the study is to provide a clearer picture of the underlying rationale and interrelated consequences of reducing educational…

The purpose of this paper is to present problems (and solutions) from the areas of marketing, population planning, system reliability, and mathematics to show how a computer simulation can be used as a problem-solving strategy in probability. Examples using BASIC and two methods of generating random numbers are given. (Author/MP)

Discusses steps involved in model building and simulation: understanding a problem, building a model, and simulation. Includes a mathematical model (focusing on a problem dealing with influenza) written in the DYNAMO computer language, developed specifically for writing simulation models. (Author/JN)

Investigated the robustness of the group-level polytomous Item Response Theory model to violations of assumptions of school-level normality and within-school normality and constant variance with eight large simulated case samples. Discusses the precision obtained in estimating school ability. (SLD)

Demonstrates the mathematical equivalence of various school finance equalization formulas, describes the elements that complicate the preparation of a generalized simulation capability, and briefly presents a conceptualization of a generalized simulation model. (JG)

Illustrates the approach of using viewable computer programs to simulate ecological processes. Gives a detailed example dealing with population dynamics. (LS)

Available from: C. Elton Hinshaw, Secretary, 1313 21st Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee 37212. (JG)

To test whether equity in educational expenditure can include equity for taxpayers, the authors analyze two suggested methods for achieving educational equity. The two methods are district power equalizing (DPE), which grants state aid in inverse proportion to school district wealth, and the wealth neutral system (WNS), which takes account of…

Because the test information function and its two modified formulas provide useful information, the reliability coefficient of a test is no longer necessary in modern mental test theory. Yet it is interesting to know how to predict the coefficient using the test information function and its modifications, tailored for each separate population of…

Despite substantial efforts to stimulate innovation in the public schools, little long-term change has been noted by observers. No firm data have been obtained to describe the innovative behavior of school systems longitudinally. The extensive literature has reinforced a permutational view of educational change as dependent on the given…