Data supplied by 18 of the 30 largest school districts in Ohio illustrate that (1) health care benefits have increased drastically; (2) cost-shifting is an efficacious method for reducing health care benefit costs; and (3) costs increase at a lower rate when cost-shifting is adopted. (18 references). (MLF)

Describes how school districts can use microcomputers for financial modeling in order to conduct a logical and rational school closure analysis. (MLF)

Reviews studies concerning the management of instructional design and the proposed role for computer-based aids for the process. Problems of implementation are highlighted using a recent example of an evaluation of a computer-based course. A cost-benefit analysis of conversion to computer-based instruction and hardware is included. (Author/MBR)

The 10 winners of the 1984 Secretary of Education's Awards for Outstanding Vocational Education Programs are listed. The article also describes the selection process, criteria used to select the awardees, and components of outstanding programs. Three winners of past years also are described. (CT)

A March 1982 Jonesboro, Arkansas, school bus accident in which nine people were killed has rekindled the debate over school bus safety, says the author. The article discusses briefly the opposition historically between school bus manufacturers and safety advocates and presents cost-benefit arguments concerning mandatory seat-belt installation.…

Market forces suggest that this should be a period of extensive innovation in graduate education, but the importance of relative prestige to universities mutes incentives to innovate. Some predictions about the prospects for innovation in colleges and universities are provided. (Author/MLW)

Reports the results of a survey designed to discover what non-traditional instructional models are being used in the basic course. Also discusses the results of an experimental testing of a self-instructional modules approach to reducing instructional costs while improving achievement. (MH)

Providing education for young children is an investment in their future. It can also benefit all members of society, because of the spill-over effects from having a better educated population. The critical question is: How much should a society invest in pre-schooling? The focus of this research is on only one of the benefits of pre-school: the…

This report, produced by the Illinois Community College Board, summarizes the results of academic, career and technical education, adult education, and developmental education programs that were reviewed during fiscal year 2004. Summaries include both program strengths and the common challenges colleges face in keeping instruction relevant while…

A database was assembled from data collected on all people served by the Developmental Disabilities divisions of Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming, including state institutions and state-funded programs (n=5,928). Information included provider expenditures associated with each individual, allocations made by individual reimbursement rates,…

For many years the school system in the United States has measured success by the number of dollars spent, computers and textbooks purchased, and programs created. Moreover, the measures of success have not focused on academic achievement. Since 1965, American taxpayers have spent more than $321 billion in federal funds on kindergarten through…

Online instruction gains an increasing presence due to associated benefits, including the ability to disregard geographical and time constraints, and the belief that online training is more cost efficient. This paper provides a discussion of issues to be faced by HRD professionals who intend to move the training environment online in response to…

The Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) compiled a report highlighting the economic benefits and opportunities the school provides to the citizens of Philadelphia and the region. Three broad categories of institutional effectiveness were defined to be economic impact characteristics: service to the Philadelphia communities, and enrollment,…

This paper comments on three presentations (Janet Fisher, Malcolm Getz, and Bill Regier) at the Scholarly Communication and Technology Conference; it focuses on publisher costs, and also discusses the electronic publishing efforts undertaken at the University of Chicago Press. Janet Fisher, from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Press,…

Scientific journal publishers have very little commercial experience with electronic full text distribution and it is difficult to segregate the effect of pricing on user acceptance and behavior. This paper examines some of the known experiences and ongoing and proposed experiments to get a sense of the interaction of pricing and user acceptance…