Describes the selection of an automated library system for 11 university cluster libraries in Wisconsin, from the decision to automate and the development of a proposal request, through the selection process itself. Appendices include a chronology of events, participants in the process, a checklist of activities, and additional suggestions.…

Presents the report of the National Task Force on Educational Technology, which focuses on current and emerging needs of learners rather than technology itself. It concludes that creative and appropriate use of information technology can help improve the quality of learning, increase educational equity, and ensure greater cost effectiveness. (MBR)

Proposes a methodology for assessing the potential of specific educational strategies for equalizing earnings among different social groups and provides an empirical illustration of the methodology as used in El Salvador. The methodology focuses on a human capital accounting procedure utilizing expected earnings streams to estimate human capital…

Describes and evaluates costs of hardware, software, training, and maintenance for computer assisted instruction (CAI) as they relate to total system cost. An example of an educational system provides an illustration of CAI cost analysis. Future developments, cost effectiveness, affordability, and applications in public and private environments…

Current means of determining the level of state education funding have denied millions of the nation's children access to a quality education by not providing schools with the resources they need to properly educate all children. It has also created and perpetuated wide gaps in education funding between wealthy and poor school districts. The…

This paper argues that community colleges can contain costs by reducing faculty reassigned time, defined as a conscious or deliberate management action, either discretionary or mandated, that releases full-time faculty from teaching duties in order to perform other tasks. According to the paper, standard financial accounting systems have a…

In 1991, Massachusetts passed an interdistrict choice law that gave parents the option of enrolling their child in any district they selected. Six years later, David Armor and Brett Peiser conducted a study to examine the social, racial, and financial impact of the choice program on participating districts, and to determine if the thesis behind…

This final report describes the activities and accomplishments of a 3-year study on the compensatory effectiveness of three assistive technologies, optical character recognition, speech synthesis, and speech recognition, on postsecondary students (N=140) with learning disabilities. These technologies were investigated relative to: (1) immediate…

This report on the early implementation of the Texas Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program and its impact on participants begins with an executive summary. An introduction outlines key research questions, components, and timelines. Section II covers program design and implementation and substate variations. The next five sections…

This paper argues that e-learning has not kept pace with the development of increasingly rich IP (Internet Protocol)-based delivery platforms for a number of reasons, including an apparent lack of awareness on the part of developers of the ways in which people learn, and an interest in keeping costs low, which precludes expenditures on…

This monograph is a "how-to" manual on responsibility center budgeting (RCB) and responsibility center management (RCM) in the context of Canadian and U.S. institutions. It explains how RCB/RCM works in practice and discusses some of the problems encountered in implementing this strategy at a number of Canadian and U.S. universities. The…

These four papers are from a symposium on evaluating the impact of human resource development (HRD). "Pre-Job Training and the Earnings of High-Tech Employees in Taiwan" (Tung-Chun Huang) reports on a study that concludes that public training programs have no impact on participants' earnings in later jobs, but participation in private…

This study introduced motivational strategies in the student support system of a distance education program, offered by the University of London (England) and implemented by the International Extension College in Cambridge (England). The program prepares international students for a diploma or masters degree in distance education. The study…

This volume describes for educators how to create simple models of the full costs of educational innovations, including the costs for time devoted to the activity, space needed for the activity, etc. Examples come from educational uses of technology in higher education in the United States and China. Real case studies illustrate the method in use:…

This introduction to "New Directions for Education and Work (Competency, Careers, and College)" discusses the questions of what is the value of college for work and how can colleges be structured to educate students both for careers and for life in general. (AF)