This report presents findings and recommendations resulting from a study on the costs and benefits of a Department of Education policy of encouraging lenders of student loans to grant forbearances to borrowers who experience temporary financial hardship but do not satisfy the specific conditions required for government-prescribed deferments. The…

This document presents findings of a study that evaluated the use of both propane and compressed natural gas as alternative fuels for Washington State school buses. It discusses air quality improvement actions by state- and federal-level regulators and summarizes vehicle design, development, and commercialization activities by all major engine,…

This monograph explains the community-based systems of care approach to providing services for children and youth with emotional disorders and reviews data from 30 communities suggesting that children served in systems of care are less likely to receive services in restrictive environments or to be placed out of their homes, counties, and states.…

Findings of a study that incorporated a method for measuring the economic efficiency of K-8 school districts in Illinois are presented in this paper. The quadriform concept was used to identify four categories, or quadrants, for identifying school districts--technically efficient, low service, high service, and technically inefficient. The method…

This document presents the first of several follow-up studies on the longitudinal effects and costs of providing alternative types of early intervention services to children with disabilities. The nine studies being followed focused on either variations in program intensity, variations in the age of beginning intervention, or variations in program…

Despite a decade of reform efforts, important policy questions concerning the efficiency and equity of the current financing system remain unanswered. This paper examines New York State fiscal and educational outcome data for 1985/86 through 1989/90. Data are presented for school district expenditures and teacher salaries; local revenue bases and…

This conference paper discusses the costs and benefits of five approaches to development of an "internationalized curriculum": (1) international business modules; (2) international business courses; (3) internationalization across the business curriculum; (4) integrating the internationalized business and liberal arts curricula; and (5)…

To determine the cost/benefit relationship between education, incarceration, and welfare, a comparison was undertaken of the actual institutional costs required to produce an associate degree graduate at Miami-Dade Community College (M-DCC), in Florida, and the institutional costs of incarceration and welfare in the state. Costs analyses were…

This document presents findings of a study that examined the feasibility, implications, and requirements of establishing a state clearinghouse for at-risk education under the auspices of the Arizona Department of Education. Data were collected through interviews with four administrative specialists and a survey of three national and five state…

This paper analyzes the value of student retention practices, or of flunking students, and presents viable options. Advocates of retention argue that it prevents future academic failure, ensures mastery of the basic skills necessary for success in higher grades, and motivates students. However, others argue that retention is associated with…

A literature search and survey of 259 Ohio State University faculty addressed advantages and disadvantages of large enrollment classes as well as factors in deciding appropriate class size. Results of both efforts found that the advantages of large classes included lowering of instructor costs, efficient use of faculty time and faculty talent,…

This report presents final (fifth year) results of 17 longitudinal studies on the costs and effects of providing alternative types of early intervention services to handicapped children. Part I summarizes activities undertaken by the project and outlines the contextual, theoretical, and historical factors underlying the conceptualization, design,…

This report on effective programs for children updates the 1988 report by providing new and stronger documentation of the programs' benefits and cost effectiveness. Eight programs and types of programs are discussed in Part I and four program areas that warrant attention are discussed in Part II. Part I reports on: (1) the Special Supplemental…

The Texas legislature passed Senate Bill 1 in 1990, which gave all school districts the option to offer prekindergarten programs for 3-year-old disadvantaged children. The financial feasibility of implementing such programs in the Texas public schools is analyzed in this report. A brief review of the economic impact of program implementation…

Volume 5, the fifth of eight publications developed by the Intercultural Development Research Association as part of the "Texas School Dropout Survey Project," decribes a study, conducted exclusively in Texas, which replicated national studies on benefits and costs of dropout prevention. The benefits in the study are expressed in terms…