Discusses implications for school finance data collection and analysis of shifting to schools as key management and policy units. Discusses questions that school-level data can answer concerning resource utilization efficiency, effectiveness, intent, and equity. Outlines conceptual issues (school definition and identification) and database…

The author of a study which followed up the 1979 deinstitutionalization of 10 adults with mental retardation reflects on his own professional career, his specialization in researching the cost-effectiveness of residential alternatives, and his surprise at the positive adjustment of these individuals to living independently in their own apartments.…

Studied the determinants of an institution's transfer enrollment using data from a national sample of institutions from 1984 to 1997 (n=3,036 private institutions and 2,341 public institutions). Findings have implications for efficiency gains within state systems through improved planning. (SLD)

An electronic requisition and purchase-order system helps Louisville's schools stay legal and efficient. Designated individuals in schools create requisitions electronically and route them to the purchasing department, which generates and sends out paper purchase orders after checking the requisitions for correctness and legality. (MLF)

In buying school supplies and roofing, school districts need to realize that low bid too often equates to low quality, high maintenance, poor performance, and short life. The key is to write bid specifications that look at the life-cycle cost, not just the initial cost. (MLF)

Analysis of behavioral outcomes for 1999-2001 graduates of New York State's Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (n=9,524) showed significantly greater improvement for those taught individually (predominately white, upstate farm/town dwellers, higher family income and educational level). However, group instruction has increased because of…

Describes several examples of cooperative efforts between school districts and municipalities to share facilities and other resources: Loveland, Colorado; Vaughan, Ontario; Yankton, South Dakota; Bangor, Maine; Mt. Pleasant, Iowa; Pamlico County, North Carolina. Also includes two examples of school districts sharing facilities and resources with…

Describes study that compared the costs of online searching on six databases in four systems. Costs of the search phase and the output phase are analyzed separately; transmission rate and telecommunication costs are examined; and the effects of pricing structures on online searches are discussed. (five references) (LRW)

Tough new environmental laws, coupled with fluctuating oil prices, are likely to prompt hundreds of school systems to examine alternative fuels. Literature reviews and interviews with 45 government, education, and industry officials provided data for a comparative analysis of gasoline, diesel, natural gas, methanol, and propane. (MLF)

To manage a company's overseas operations effectively, a human resources manager needs a basic understanding of the three types of employees that will work in the facilities: (1) local nationals; (2) third-country nationals; and (3) U.S. foreign service employees. (JOW)

A model of the relationship between cost and quality aspects of the demand for after-school child care was field tested with a sample of 41 midwestern parents. Results showed that 63 percent ranked quality factors before cost in choice of child care. The time involved in information seeking was relatively short. (JOW)

Electronic communication networks can provide facility planners with a rapid forum for the exchange of ideas and a quick survey process. Provides information about the Facilities and Services Listserv (FACSER), designed for the exchange of ideas related to higher education, and other services and networks such as BITNET, ARPANET, and INTERNET.…

Describes the differences between English and Chinese information retrieval and the problems with Chinese character entry and encoding. It is argued that regular expression searching facilitates Chinese character entry and retrieval. Mathematical models are developed for controlling noisy characters retrieved by regular expressions containing…

Describes desired software enhancements identified by the Southern California Online Users Group in the areas of search language, database selection, document retrieval and display, user interface, customer support, and cost and economic issues. The need to prioritize these wishes and to determine whether features should reside in the mainframe or…

Donald C. Burr, founder and CEO of PEOPLExpress, discusses the keys to the success of PEOPLExpress from the "peanuts fares" to the humanistic style of management, and the eventual demise of the airline. One area discussed is the role of information systems in business and the result of the airline's lack of an effective computerized…