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…

The purpose of this volume is to add meaning to the statistics of New Jersey's diverse public libraries. This report interprets data obtained from the annual reports of 295 public libraries in the state. The report begins with an introduction describing how the data were analyzed. The introduction then displays the following tables graphically to…

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…

The National Education Longitudinal Studies Program (NELS) is a long-term effort that encompasses the educational experience of youth from three decades. This report is based on the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), a component of the NELS series that began as a national probability sample of eighth grade schools and…

There are a variety of computing tools available in educational institutions. With the knowledge of standard tools and how they can be used to compliment one another, students can gain impressive skills in information presentation. This paper describes a method for science students to use in preparing data for analysis and dissemination and…

This manual is provided to help Wisconsin counties that participate in state-funded public library systems fulfill their statutory obligations to provide library service to their residents. It suggests a range of alternatives, provides a broad outline of planning considerations, and describes service environments and possible responses to those…

This report provides a summarization of a study designed to determine if there is a significant relationship between formal religious education and the moral judgment development of college students, and after controlling for formal religious education, to see if there was also a significant relationship between the educational environment or…

A picture can be interpreted in different ways by various persons. There is often a difference between a picture's denotation (literal meaning), connotation (associative meaning), and private associations. Two studies were conducted in order to observe the private associations that pictures awaken in people. One study deals with associations made…

This paper reports on research that examined longitudinal data on students entering Tennessee Board of Regents institutions of higher education after the implementation of a state-mandated developmental studies program. The program identifies and helps at-risk students to persist in college to graduation. Data analysis is presented from a 1986…

This paper presents study results concerning the nature of successful academic performance, specifically examining to what extent self-regulated learning played a role in successful academic performance at the college level. (Self-regulated learning is defined as the integration and utilization of cognitive, metacognitive, motivational,…

This paper reports on a standard-setting method designed for complex performance assessments with multiple performance categories. The method studied, the Analytical Judgment Method, involves panelists' making analytical classification decisions for each of the test's components individually. It also allows for discussion and reconsideration of…

This guide describes a systematic way of identifying the resources and needs of community residents by gathering data, soliciting the perspectives of residents and leaders, and surveying service providers and other community resources. Part 1 of the guide differentiates community assessment from traditional needs assessments and details the 5-step…

The nine-volume Survey Kit is designed to help readers prepare and conduct surveys and become better users of survey results. All the books in the series contain instructional objectives, exercises and answers, examples of surveys in use, illustrations of survey questions, guidelines for action, checklists of "dos and don'ts," and…

Education depends on resources that may be tangible (teachers, facilities, textbooks, money) or intangible (political will, parental support). Considerations of space, usually in the form of questions containing the word "where", constitute another resource issue that confronts educational managers almost daily. Questions like…

One of the consequences of Ohio's educational accountability efforts mandated under Ohio Senate Bill 55 (SB 55) and the traditional testing programs of Ohio school districts is the generation of huge amounts of data. In order for school-based educators to organize and explore these voluminous amounts of information, they need exposure to…