Jurisdictional consolidation of local governments and school districts is a controversial and persistent subject for rural communities. Consolidation proposals are usually based on the assumption that larger jurisdictions are necessary to capture economies of scale. This paper argues that the effect of size depends on the function that a…

This paper focuses on how teachers and administrators share a commitment towards the general principle of accountability in regard to efficiency in educational programs. The notion of efficiency is shown to have limited application to complex multidimensional processes, including those of classroom language learning and of language program…

This policy research summary outlines the paradigms and processes used in recent research and evaluation studies conducted on supported employment and rehabilitation programs in Minnesota. First, the paper reviews evaluation strategies and models for assessing the individual and societal efficacy of supported employment. It identifies key…

This report to the U.S. Congress reviews monitoring activities of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in regard to formula grant programs. The study looked at dates of the most recent monitoring visits to the state education agencies and calculated key steps in the monitoring process, such as the time from visit to issuance of the…

Designed for high school economics students as a public service project of the American Fletcher National Bank, the booklet examines the fundamentals of the profit system in attempts to dispel common misconceptions held by students. A comparison is made between newspaper carriers and big business entrepreneurs by considering the risks made in…

It is common practice for universities across the globe to engage in some form of benevolent interaction with communities beyond the borders of their campuses. Current legislative transformation in higher education in South Africa, for example, urges higher education institutions to become more responsive to civil society through projects that are…

In all academic disciplines college teachers respond to student writing with shortcuts--checksheets, correction symbols, computer style checkers, etc. But while these methods save teachers time, do they help students improve their writing? A survey of research into teacher commentary, conceived of as a contextual discourse activity, initially…

It is proposed that through the use of whole language techniques, an English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) teacher can incorporate holistic language situations into the ESL classroom and advance the student's acquisition of a second language. Whole language techniques such as spontaneous conversation, brainstorming with semantic maps, dialogue…

The Netherlands' secondary education system is highly differentiated, with four different school types for four scholastic ability levels. Final examinations must accommodate these four levels, and require a test-independent definition of the intended final ability levels as well as a sample-free evaluation of the range of ability levels at which…

Sensitivity to context variables marks the third phase of effective schools research (ESR). The first phase was one of explicit concern for equity, challenging the works of Coleman and Jencks which suggested that achievement differences were more associated with family background than school variables. This research focused on low socioeconomic…

This curriculum guide for management is one of a number of guides developed for use in vocational home economics education in Texas. Introductory materials address use of the guide and list the essential elements upon which the content is based. The guide is divided into five units: identifying and using resources, using decision making, using the…

The results of the Student Reaction to College survey, given to students at Arizona's three public universities, are presented as one of the working papers in the final report of the Arizona Board of Regents' Task Force on Excellence, Efficiency and Competitiveness. Results indicate the following: students from all three universities are very…

As a part of the final report of the Arizona Board of Regents' Task Force on Excellence, Efficiency and Competitiveness, the history of statewide planning for postsecondary education in Arizona is presented. In 1974, the Board of Regents adopted a long-range planning document with statements of what it would not do to limit university aspirations…

One of the working papers in the final report of the Arizona Board of Regents' (ABOR) Task Force on Excellence, Efficiency and Competitiveness presents an overview of the State of Arizona ABOR, and university state operating budget request processes. This overview includes a 25-year state funding, productivity, and performance output history of…

Six university English departments collaborated in this examination of the differences between multiple-choice and essay tests in evaluating writing skills. The study also investigated ways the two tools can complement one another, ways to improve cost effectiveness of essay testing, and ways to integrate assessment and the educational process.…