A 2-year project was undertaken to develop performance standards for vocational and applied technology education in Texas. During the first project year, background research on performance standards in vocational and applied technology education was conducted and model performance standards for selected vocational programs were delineated. During…

Characteristics of periodical use at a small liberal arts college were studied using a methodology aimed at providing a more accurate system for data collection by recording all the periodicals used in an entire semester. In the John J. Wright Library at La Roche College (Pennsylvania), circulation records were consulted, and one person while…

Different kinds of pictorial databases are described with respect to aims, user groups, search possibilities, storage, and distribution. Some specific examples are given for databases used for the following purposes: (1) labor markets for artists; (2) document management; (3) telling a story; (4) preservation (archives and museums); (5) research;…

As Kansas schools have begun to work through the Quality Performance Accreditation (QPA) process, educators have asked for guidance and the establishment of some uniform parameters. This publication is one of the guides designed to lead schools through the school improvement process called for in the QPA. Creating a school profile is a way of…

This paper examines the effects of two types of data collection strategies on Q-technique factor analysis. The subjects (classroom teachers) were divided into two groups: Group 1 (n=21) and Group 2 (n=23). The subjects responded to an instrument designed to measure the degree to which certain aspects of teaching are viewed as problems; the…

Smart Start is North Carolina's partnership between state government and local leaders, service providers, and families to better serve children under 6 years of age and their families. This report describes the comprehensive plan to evaluate the state and local goals and objectives of the program, focusing on the components addressing the…

This report emphasizes the importance of two types of assessment: (1) authentic assessment, which encompasses a holistic or comprehensive view of student performance, and (2) assessment of institutional effectiveness, or outcomes assessment, which is a process of measuring how effectively a college executes its stated mission. While Hudson County…

This volume provides supplementary data to the annual report for 43 provincially assisted universities, colleges, and church-related institutions of higher education in Ontario, Canada. The information includes further details concerning various sources of revenue, including grants from the major funding agencies of the federal government, as well…

In March 1996, the Region XI Education Service Center, Fort Worth (Texas), was designated to continue a project implemented in 1990 by the Texas Education Agency to study the overall effectiveness of special education programs. The 1996 project was extended in 1997. This paper reports on the first of three newly planned study components, the…

Methods and instruments used by teacher preparation institutions in conducting graduate follow-up studies were investigated, and an effort was made to determine the institutions' satisfaction with the methodology and results of their current follow-up procedures. A survey instrument was constructed that addressed eight questions related to…

Recently the state legislatures in Texas and Arkansas have passed initiatives to maximize transfer effectiveness from two- to four-year institutions. These initiatives, and others being undertaken on a national level, were stimulated by the rising cost of higher education, a decline in transfer rates and low achievement among students who do…

This document is a formal analysis of and report on the House of Representative's Bill 2313, the School Dropout Demonstration Amendments; the Bill amends the School Dropout Demonstration Assistance Act of 1988, but authorizes continued funding for the original 1988 legislation, which established funding for dropout prevention programs, reentry…

The purpose of this brief report is to highlight information about disabled youth in relation to the second of six National Education goals proposed by the President and the Governors in 1990. The second goal states that "By the year 2000, the high school graduation rate will increase to at least 90 percent." A grade of…

This report presents results of the annual College and University Faculty Salary Policies Survey. The survey was sent to 1,603 public institutions of higher education in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, of which 1,404 responded for a response rate of 87.6%. Each year, the results of the survey provide information on faculty salary…

The base-year survey of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) took place in spring 1988. Data on a variety of topics were obtained by questionnaires and achievement tests administered to a national probability sample of 25,000 eighth-graders. This report presents results of an examination of the quality of responses of…