This manual, developed as part of an effort by Mount St. Mary's College (Los Angeles, California) to increase multicultural education across the curriculum contains practical suggestions for revising and developing syllabi with a multicultural component from a variety of disciplines including art, English, music, philosophy, psychology, speech,…

In November 1989, nine research designs developed to assist local colleges in the evaluation of their matriculation activities were disseminated to the California community colleges. These designs, created as part of the Local Research Options Project, focused on measuring the effects of the colleges' matriculation activities on student…

In 1990, pursuant to the Washington community college system's request, the Washington state legislature appropriated additional funding to pursue assessment at the local college level as a way to address issues of institutional improvement. Each college submitted preliminary plans to the State Board for Community College Education (SBCCE) which…

The 4MAT system of instructional change is described. The 4MAT system is an eight-step cycle of instruction that capitalizes on individual learning styles and brain-dominance processing preference. Four major learning styles are recognized: (1) imaginative; (2) analytic; (3) common sense; and (4) dynamic. Because in each style there are people…

The goal of this project was to increase by 50 percent the number of children with significant hearing impairment identified by 12 months of age. Attainment of this goal was attempted through activities in three major areas: (1) replication and documentation of the benefits of a birth certificate-based screening system; (2) investigation of the…

Interest in Total Quality Management (TQM) at institutions of higher education has been stressed in recent years as an important area of activity for institutional researchers. Two previous AIR Forum papers have presented some of the statistical and graphical methods used for TQM. This paper, the third in the series, first discusses some of the…

In order to study library public relations practices in Idaho, a survey was mailed to all Idaho public library directors and branch librarians in 1992. The state received 88 responses to the 141 surveys mailed. Seventy-five percent of respondents reported a lack of public relations budget, and in 76 percent of the libraries, one staff member was…

Paine College, a four-year liberal arts institution in Augusta, Georgia, serving mostly black students recently completed an assessment and evaluation plan aimed at all units of the college. The plan was developed by members of the Committee on Institutional Effectiveness and Research over 12 months and focuses on the school's primary mission to…

In 1989, the Australian state of Victoria introduced a major curriculum reform in postcompulsory education. Curriculum requirements are set out as guidelines to allow schools to vary content and approach while still meeting prescribed work requirements. Assessment responsibilities have shifted from externally set and examined tasks to school-based…

A framework is provided for asking research questions and implementing an applied urban research project. Chapter 1 gives a brief overview of the term "urban" and the field of urban research. Chapter 2 discusses how different levels of analysis can be used in doing urban research. Chapter 3 suggests the need for strategic thinking in the applied…

This report describes findings of a project to identify promising school-based practices in evaluation and intervention with children having attention deficit disorders (ADD). Introductory material explains the project's purposes and procedures. The next chapter provides an overview of the 26 promising practices identified through nominations by…

The methodology developed for the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications' evaluation of the "New Pathways to a Degree" projects funded by the Annenberg/CPB Project is described. This methodology provides an approach for conducting a valid, reliable evaluation effort that is sensitive to specific institutional issues and…

This study discusses the development of a qualitative assessment to profile prosodic skills of Cantonese-speaking children with speech defects, and correlates it with a quantiative assessment of productive skills. The study entails the use of the Visi-pitch to provide objective data for assessment. The aim is to devise a comprehensive description…

The report evaluates "Hablar et Parler," a videodisc project that provides Spanish and French language training to elementary school age students under the supervision of a teacher who may or may not have a foreign language background. The project, which was developed by the Utah Videodisc Consortium, consists of a videodisc, a teacher's…

Faculty status for librarians at academic institutions has been an unresolved issue for many decades. In 1991, the Office of Management Services of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) conducted a survey of the 107 members on the topic of faculty status. Ninety-nine responses were received. Responses clearly reveal that the term…