Participants in cooperative extension family life programs (N=916) identified family strains, coping, quality of life, self-esteem, stress, and willingness to support extension services with tax dollars. The resulting normative data can be used to measure the impact of cooperative extension programs. (SK)

Examines a number of current products that enhance CD-ROM use. Highlights include shareware; audio players; drive control, including security devices; caching, to increase speed; benchmarks and diagnostics, to compare different drive models; enhanced extensions; and file management. (LRW)

Project 2061 has been constructing goals for science, mathematics, and technology education since 1985, beginning with high school graduation standards (in "Science for All Americans 1989") and working toward reasonable standards for students at earlier grade levels. Projected "Benchmarks for Science Literacy" will include…

Discusses benchmarking, the continuous process of measuring one's products, services, and practices against those recognized as leaders in that field to identify areas for improvement. Examines ways in which benchmarking can benefit human resources functions. (JOW)

Examines an approach to school maintenance budgeting that can improve the ability of schools to obtain maintenance and repair funds. The approach is based on the use of the Facilities Condition Index as a budgeting tool, where maintenance is viewed as keeping the physical value of facilities as close to 100% of replacement cost as possible. (GR)

An alternative benchmarking approach for assessing business-school quality was developed by a partnership of five schools. It relies on facilitators who guide institutional representatives in selecting performance indicators and gathering and reporting benchmarks, best practices, and student satisfaction. (SK)

Learning in corporations was assessed using these benchmarks: core qualities of creative organizations, characteristic of organizational creativity, attributes of flexible organizations, use of diversity and conflict, creative human resource management systems, and effective and successful teams. These benchmarks are key elements of the learning…

Discusses issues concerned with diversity and selecting peer institutions against which institutions of higher education attempt to "benchmark" themselves. Suggests diversity and peer selection can be closely linked conceptually within single scales of similarity and dis- similarity. A case study illustrates connections between diversity and peer…

Investors in People (IIP) is a British national standard for quality in training and development. Evaluation of companies achieving IIP recognition identified business benefits that resulted from the process. (SK)

Illustrates the interdependent issues associated with modern materials science and suggests that the performance of a computer depends on the physiochemical properties of its components. Focuses on selected materials critical to a computer's construction. Contains 69 references. (DDR)

Summarizes the findings of an international study of distance education institutions that was conducted by Athabasca University (Canada) to gather information about copyright operations. Highlights include copyright clearances; costs; the role of the copyright officer; and ethical questions of institutional intellectual ownership. (Author/LRW)

A benchmarking project to measure administrative processes and financial ratios received 57 usable replies from 300 noncredit continuing education programs. Programs with strong financial surpluses were identified and their processes benchmarked (including response to inquiries, registrants, registrant/staff ratio, new courses, class size,…

Analyzes the tenuous relationship between school learning and one student's everyday life. Emphasizes that standard tests and benchmarks should only ever be the baseline for a teacher. Examines national benchmarks, testing, and standards in the light of one case in Australia in order to discuss the pitfalls associated with judging students on the…

Distance learners studied law (n=8) and human resource management (n=7) using collaborative interactive activities. Results showed that collaborative online learning can foster deep, meaningful approaches. Assessment tasks can encourage the use of higher-order thinking through a process of benchmarking. (Contains 34 references.) (SK)

Discusses how to use benchmarking as both a quantitative and qualitative tool when reviewing management development in light of changing business strategy and organizational design. Highlights include cost effectiveness, a benchmarking framework, and the impact on human resource development (HRD) functions. (Author/LRW)