The High/Scope Perry Preschool Study is a study of the effects of a high-quality preschool program for children born in poverty. Following 123 children randomly assigned to program or no-program control groups, the study has had little attrition on a variety of measures from age 3 to age 41. The study has found evidence of preschool program…

Written by a 2000 winner of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, this paper explores the assumptions and foundations of current policies toward skill formation. The paper examines the conventional wisdom articulated by political leaders and draws on a body of recent scholarship that challenges many of the premises that govern popular policy…

In spring 1997, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges mailed a survey on textbook costs and pricing to local academic senate presidents, associated student body presidents, and bookstore managers at every community college in California. Results indicated that there was a lack of faculty and student involvement in bookstore…

This document presents a review of cost-containment initiatives relevant to higher education institutions. Originally commissioned to examine cost containment initiatives carried out by institutions affiliated with the Foundation for Independent Higher Education (FIHE), the paper was expanded to include a sector-wide review of three types of…

This report of the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources favorably recommends the passage of amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to reauthorize and improve the act. Specific recommended improvements include: (1) decreasing paperwork, (2) providing increased flexibility and lower costs in the delivery of services,…

This document contains a progress report on three categories of interim performance objectives outlined by the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) in winter 1999. These objectives were to: (1) improve customer service; (2) reduce the overall cost of delivering student aid; and (3) transform the OSFA into a performance-based organization.…

This dissertation provides information to state-level policymakers that will help them avoid two implementation problems seen in the past in California's class-size-reduction (CSR) reform. The first problem was that flat, per student reimbursement did not adequately cover costs in districts with larger pre-CSR class-sizes or smaller schools. The…

A review was conducted to identify improvements in the public postsecondary vocational education system in Florida that could save the state money. The study found that 37 percent of adult vocational education programs were poor performers in fiscal year 1992-93, costing the state approximately $13.1 million while either producing few completers…

This report describes the economics of programs working to reduce crime in Washington State. For a variety of approaches, from prevention programs designed for young children to correctional interventions for juvenile and adult offenders, it systematically analyzes North American research studies from the past 25 years. For this review, the…

The California legislature's Joint Legislative Audit Committee has issued a report on the design-build versus the design-bid-build process and offers a hybrid approach combining the two systems as a way of achieving the greatest cost efficiency at the least risk on public agencies. The cost benefits of faster delivery of the design-build method…

This paper provides an overview of thin-client/server computing in higher education. Thin-clients are like PCs in appearance, but they do not house hard drives or localized operating systems and cannot function without being connected to a server. Two types of thin-clients are described: the Network Computer (NC) and the Windows Terminal (WT).…

This paper provides a summary of four projects currently funded through Australia's National Center for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), including what they propose to achieve and their preliminary findings to date. After an introduction, an overview of preliminary findings from the four projects is presented. The following barriers to…

This case study examined the benefits and costs of instructional television as employed by the Education Network of Maine (ENM) through its distance learning initiative. Data were obtained from the 1995-96 and 1996-97 academic years. In fall term 1996, there were 3,264 students enrolled in network courses, about 10.6 percent of system enrollment.…

In 1995, the Ohio General Assembly required that certain educational service centers (ESCs) merge with other ESCs. This report examines the impact of ESC consolidation on the costs and quality of services provided to school districts. It raises issues for the state's General Assembly to consider and provides recommendations regarding pending ESC…

Using traditional building materials and a fast-track recipe, the architects, acting as construction manager, completed the Graduate Chemistry Laboratory at Stony Brook, New York, two full years ahead of schedule. (Author/MF)