This generation of young people is on track to be less-educated than their parents--for the first time in American history. This, at the same time the world and workplace are changing dramatically and rapidly--when students, more than ever, need high levels of skill in order to compete. Advance Illinois has developed this report "We Can Do…

This report presents preliminary findings from the Reading First Impact Study, a congressionally mandated evaluation of the federal government initiative to help all children read at or above grade level by the end of third grade. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) established Reading First and mandated its evaluation. This document is…

An approach to obtain disciplinary specific salary information for the institution of higher education budget process by mid-winter is considered. The approach involves using current year institutional mean salaries and prior year relative average salaries by academic discipline to provide "current" salary comparisons by academic…

In an effort to determine differences between students who respond to surveys and those who do not, New Mexico State University at Alamogordo (NMSU-A) undertook a study of students in fall 1992. Students were asked to complete an 18-item questionnaire while waiting in lines during registration. The 1,618 out of 2,114 (76.5%) students who completed…

This guide discusses the use of focus groups in marketing research for higher education. It describes the differences between qualitative and quantitative research, and examines when it is appropriate to use focus group research, when it is not, and why. The guide describes a step-by-step approach in how to plan, formulate, moderate, and report…

In 1988, Franklin County Children Services in Columbus, Ohio, initiated the development of a community-based, multidisciplinary process to review all deaths of children on its open caseload, and deaths in cases in which the agency had contact with the child or the child's family in the 12 months preceding the child's death. The review process…

Recent debate about immigration policy has focused on whether or not immigrants' contributions to public revenues cover the costs of the public services they use, and if not, should the federal government reimburse state and local governments for those net costs. Findings of recent studies have varied widely, because of differences in data…

This study was designed to determine the extent to which the results of an employment survey of graduates of a teacher preparation program would have been affected by changes in response rate. At the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a followup of teacher education program graduates is conducted annually. A total of 284 graduates of the 1992…

This document presents a model of educational outcomes for learners in grade 4 and the indicators of these outcomes for all students. This includes students identified as having disabilities or developmental delays. The document begins with a presentation of the conceptual model, with Educational Resources (Inputs and Contexts) influencing…

A longitudinal study was planned to track a class in a prekindergarten program to determine program effectiveness. There are many problems in conducting a longitudinal study, most of which revolve around the long-term commitment required. A carefully designed information system is important. For the study in question, computer software and…

The National Household Education Survey (NHES) is a data collection system of the National Center for Education Statistics which has as its mission the collection and publication of data on the condition of education in the United States. The NHES provides descriptive data through a random digit dialed telephone survey of the noninstitutionalized…

This paper presents strategies that address the needs of the school district assessment office for standardized procedures to support reliable and efficient test processing and reporting and that meet the needs of school staff for test administration guidelines. The key to test administration and processing quality is a knowledgeable test…

This paper contains executive summaries of the productivity-quality efforts of nine independent Illinois colleges and universities. The summaries typically include descriptions of the type of student population served, the type of campus, the institution's mission statement, and major areas in which degrees are offered. Specific initiatives to…

This paper, from the Proprietary Schools Advisory Committee, is an executive summary of reports on the productivity-quality efforts of nine Illinois proprietary institutions. For each school, productivity summaries are presented for instructional, public service, and research units as well as academic and administrative functions. Examples of…

This paper focuses on the mechanics of assessing the impact of educational technology. The basics of program evaluation, research design, data collection and analysis, and report generation are covered to provide useful information to those responsible for program evaluation research and to decision makers, who are the usual recipients of…