Presented is a systematic approach for analyzing cost effectiveness of gifted and talented educational programs in terms of categorizing funds, prorating expenditures, designing a data collection form, determining cost effectiveness, and considering multiple variable implications. All costs are reported to be subsumed under six major categories:…

Based on the final two years' developmental effort of the Colorado Individualized Instruction Consortium Project (CIICP), a series of recommendations are made dealing with future curriculum development. Three main goals of CIICP are delineated: develop Learning Activity Packets (LAP), design multimedia for each LAP training instructor to use in…

To ascertain the actual cost of an honors program for any given year at Alcorn State University, two methods were used: cost per student, and the cost per credit hour. The cost per student can be a misleading figure and that is particularly apparent when used in conjunction with the cost per credit hour. For example, in 1975-76 the cost per honor…

In some educational research studies--particularly longitudinal studies requiring a probability sample of schools and spanning a wide range of grades--it is desirable to so select the sample that schools at different levels (e.g., elementary and secondary) "correspond." This has often proved unachievable, using standard methods of selecting school…

This paper presents an overview of the major findings of a study evaluating federally-supported child day care in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. The principal objective of the study was to evaluate day care quality using the proposed federal day care standards as a baseline and to develop strategies to improve these services. The study…

This paper focuses on the concerns associated with the use of systems analysis in higher education. One fear is that systems analysis will increase the need for centralized authority and highly structured activity, thus contributing to further alienation and dehumanization. A second objection pertains to the increased requirement for specifying…

In the controversy regarding the relationship of the cost per student to the size of the school, some argue that economics of scale exist while others insist that they do not. The purpose of this study was to estimate the net relationship between the enrollment size of an area vocational technical school and the expenditures per student. The…

Focusing on the evaluation of outcomes ("cost benefit analysis") in large scale social action programs, this paper examines issues relating to the adequacy of theory and methodology as well as the impact of different types of persons (academics, politicians, program administrators) involved in the evaluation process. Problems of evaluation…

This cost study analyzes the operating costs of the Bibliographical Center so that the Center can adopt the best possible combination of procedures with which to achieve its service objectives at the lowest possible cost to its members. This study provides data, upon which a fee schedule can be based, that is derived from the form of the input and…

This two-part paper provides a conceptual framework which surveys the process of Management Information Systems (MIS) planning and development, from need recognition to evolving MIS operational capabilities. Part 1, of direct concern to the manager, is entitled "Organizational Problem Finding." (Part 1 available as LI 002 609.) Part 2…

Although the public is best served by governmental agencies which have integrated the major functions of planning, managing, and budgeting, it can be asserted that the planning function is paramount. A review of the evolution of public agency administration in the U.S. reveals that until recent years the planning function has been largely…

Specific objectives of this phase of a nationwide study of vocational education were: (1) to determine the unit cost for vocational-technical education programs in a unified school district and in junior college district, (2) to determine the problems of data collection and analysis under present practices and legal requirements, and (3) to…

Evaluation of the ratio of cost to benefit of instruction must play an important part in the formation of a public policy on education. However, it is doubtful if evaluation is sufficiently developed to play such a role, because evaluation is based on student responses to test items which contain an indefinite bias and cannot be accepted as…

Cost-effectiveness represents an attempt to apply one methodology to decision-making in education. Three recent trends in the behavioral and social sciences are apparent: Rationalization in the decision process, institutionalization of research in education, and the beginning of a general theory of organizational behavior. The problem posed is how…

The application of operations research techniques to a public school system's lunch program suggests a possible solution to the problem of rapidly increasing program costs. A computer-assisted menu planner was developed which generated a monthly set of menus satisfying nutritional and Federal standards, and food demand cycles. When compared to the…