To examine the contributions and procedures of regional educational laboratories, the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) compiled a history of its own development and compared its approaches in several critical areas to those of seven other regional laboratories. A section on the purpose and development of the laboratories provides…

The seven articles in this focused journal issue are concerned with choosing books for teaching and the various constraints on those choices. The first article, by Richard Lederer, discusses George Orwell's "1984" and the principles of Newspeak. His article sets the tone for the next two articles: "Beware the Misuse of…

Issues related to ability testing and affirmative action are discussed, including the fair use of tests in academic and occupational selection, the effects of testing upon the tested individual, and implications of the issues for the major participants. Types and functions of ability tests, both aptitude and achievement, are described. Studies of…

A survey was undertaken to explore how changes in the faculty job market, and the uncertainties they produce, are reflected in one limited aspect of institutional behavior: the hiring of new faculty members. The survey focused on the attitudes and expectations of administrators at two- and four-year colleges with respect to the educational…

The school librarian and the school reading teacher can and should be working together to provide an atmosphere conducive to the effective use of the school library. To do this, the librarian should learn something about the way children are taught to read and about the problems of the poor reader by consulting the reading teacher for advice on…

A study was made of the book selection procedures and collections in the area of fourth grade science (astronomy and earth science) in 12 elementary schools in two Southwestern school districts. The six schools in District 2 utilized a local buying list in their acquisitions, those in District 1 did not. The hypothesis to be tested was that as…

When planning an instructional television (ITV) system, it is suggested that educational objectives should outweigh technological considerations and that expert advice be secured before the planning process is far advanced. In line with the latter suggestion, the book offers a background of technical knowledge aimed at educational administrators…

With the aim of providing a realistic, professional approach to solving problems of administration, organization, and operation of the library media center, this textbook has been written for both practicing librarians as well as for students of library science. Included in the nine chapters are: an overview of terminology and the present state of…

The Southwest Evaluation and Research Division conducted a survey of 165 purchasers of bilingual instructional materials produced by SEDL to determine which information channels predominate in the curriculum adoption-decision process. The findings of this survey may be useful in the selection of the most efficient ways to communicate information…

Identifies sources of technological stress for public services librarians and patrons and proposes ways to reduce stress, including communicating with staff, implementing a system gradually, providing adequate training, creating proper documentation, planning, considering ergonomics in hardware and software selection, selecting a good interface,…

We use detailed data from New York City to estimate how the characteristics of school principals relate to school performance, as measured by students' standardized exam scores and other outcomes. We find little evidence of any relationship between school performance and principal education and pre-principal work experience, although we do find…

Using a case study format, the authors' objective was to collect data related to the following research questions: (1) What criteria do teachers and districts use when selecting engineering design experiences for infusion into high school classes and which of these criteria are most effective?; and (2) What issues, opportunities, and constraints…

Over the past several years, a number of new programs, policies, and initiatives designed to promote the employment of people with disabilities have been implemented by state and federal agencies, and are being evaluated to greater and lesser degrees. The purpose of this report is to provide a review of the recent evaluation activities being…

A previously developed method of automatically selecting items for inclusion in a test subject to constraints on item content and statistical properties is applied to real data. Two tests are first assembled by experts in test construction who normally assemble such tests on a routine basis. Using the same pool of items and constraints articulated…

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics in 1987-88 and again in 1990-91, provided public school districts with a list of eight specific criteria that might be used in considering applicants for teaching positions. This issue brief looks at the criteria school districts reported requiring to…