An 8-year study of academic achievement, student performance, and education costs in rural northeastern Brazil investigated the presumption that students automatically perform better when more school resources are provided. Two main topics were examined: the success of EDURURAL, an educational intervention project in rural Brazil sponsored by the…

Applied Business Technologies, Inc. is in the process of developing multi-media training CD's to support the implementation of its PowerCAMPUS student information system product. Multi-media training is a very powerful tool for achieving objectives. Trainees take the course at a time convenient for them and progress at a pace suited to their…

Expenditures on further education (FE) in England were examined as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), which was a zero-based budgeting exercise performed by the Labour government for a 3-year period covering 1999-2002. The CSR increased total FE funding by 7% in 1999-2000. When the anticipated 5% increase in FE enrollments and…

This report reviews the Exceptional Student Education Programs administered by the Florida Department of Education. Findings of the review indicate: (1) during the 1995-96 school year, Florida spent 1.75 billion for special programs, services, and facilities to serve 368,710 students with disabilities; (2) the number and percentage of children…

Reflections on the proposal for creation and implementation of a national test are presented from the perspective of a test author. The most readily identified characteristic of the proposed national test is the intensity of debate surrounding it. Another easily identified characteristic is the anticipated effect. While proponents expect higher…

Distance education is the only prospect of bringing further educational opportunities within the grasp of most adults in Guyana. Some factors that make distance education desirable, such as the infrastructure and present economic problems, militate against its provision. Many of the best educated personnel in all sectors have emigrated; the loss…

State law requires that all certified professional personnel employed in Georgia school systems have their performance evaluated annually by trained evaluators. The Georgia School Counselor Evaluation Program (GSCEP) was designed to be used across all systems and schools for annual formative and summative evaluation purposes. The process used to…

The Joint Legislative Committee on Performance Evaluation and Expenditure Review (PEER) Committee of the Mississippi Legislature is authorized to review any public entity at the request of the legislature. In response to numerous allegations by agency employees and citizens and to anonymous complaints, the PEER Committee reviewed the Mississippi…

This report responds to the 1992 Virginia legislative direction and offers suggestions on how the state's colleges and universities should change their resource allocations to extend the reach of teaching faculty and develop new and creative approaches to the work of teaching, research, and service. Restructuring in the areas of staffing…

This paper reports on the development and use of a multiattribute evaluation model for making resource reallocation decisions in a large College of Education. Multiple criteria with measurable attributes, procedures for use, and software templates are identified, along with data from a recent cycle of reviews. Final estimates on weighted utility…

The long-term results of a 32-hour interpersonal communication skills training program for unit staff in a large state psychiatric hospital were evaluated. The main goal was to improve staff effectiveness through systematic training in communication behaviors expressing empathy in staff-patient interactions. Staff outcome measures were turnover,…

The Task Force on Institutional Effectiveness Measures was formed by the State Board of Directors for Community Colleges of Arizona to develop a statewide plan for systematically demonstrating the degree to which community colleges accomplish their diverse missions. Two subgroups were formed in the Task Force on transfer and college programs and…

This benefit-cost evaluation project provides a comprehensive analysis of a school district special education program. The project addressed the need for information on ways to evaluate special education programs and to make programmatic decisions based on evaluation information. Project activities focused on the following four interrelated areas:…

Two 1980 surveys of school staff, team member interviews, and examination of project films and documents supplied information for final evaluation of the ROCTAPUS (Really Outstanding Color Television About Practically Unlimited Subjects) program, a closed-circuit, magazine format, videotaped, television series intended to enrich the experiential…

A 4-lesson course on economic effects of population changes in rural small communities, developed for use by extension personnel in Idaho and throughout sparsely-populated areas of the Great Plains and western states, is designed to help community leaders improve their understanding of special economic problems of small communities. Use of the…