The analytical part of the Coleman report has such serious methodological shortcomings that it offers little guidance for policy decisions. The specification of the theoretical model is inadequate, and without the theoretical framework to provide order, and a rationale for the large number of variables, there is no way to interpret the statistical…

These hearings before the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs focused on ways to provide adequate nutrition to millions of children attending schools not participating in the National School Lunch and Child Nutrition Programs. Testimony was heard from the following witnesses: Mr. Sam Winer, past president, U.S. Jaycees; Mr. Robert…

Demands for urban decentralization and community control are indexes of the inaccessibility, irresponsibility, and unresponsiveness of the institutions of urban government in the 1970's. How and why these institutions have become the focus of such widespread dissatisfaction can be understood only in the total context of urban politics in America,…

This report contains a description and an analysis of the process through which Nebraska State government establishes policy for its public elementary and secondary schools. The report focuses on the role and the impact of the various actors, official and unofficial, who become involved at the State level in setting public school policy. The data…

This paper pursues the question: "When is conflict functional to a proponent of change?" Interview data from school desegregation controversies in 91 Northern cities is used. Four major findings from the data show ways in which conflict seems to both facilitate and hinder effects to obtain desegregation: On the one hand, cities with militant black…

The critical problems, needs, and issues in early childhood special education are formulated, and an overall framework is suggested for their solution. What is called for in early childhood special education is an expansion of the educational and child development data banks, the creation of a Child Early Warning System (CEWS), the funding of…

To what extent, if any, will workers in families receiving Government cash benefits reduce their hours of work? The papers by Irwin Garfinkel and by Glen Cain and Harold Watts review large numbers of studies on this question. These authors caution us against having great confidence in the detailed estimates of how workers will respond because…

This comparative analysis was derived from 12 case study reports, each devoted to policymaking for the public schools in a particular State. The nine chapters were prepared by a number of persons involved in the case studies. First, the framework and methodology used in the study are explained. Next, the authors discuss the major actors in the…

School boards, often prodded by recently-enacted State accountability laws, have been involving themselves, their staffs, their patrons, and their students in a quest for consensus about educational goals of local school systems. A board that does not give priority to these matters runs the risk of having directions determined at other levels.…

Dr. David Armor introduced his paper on "busing" of pupils as busing became the political battleground of American race relations. The paper includes brief descriptions of studies of school desegregation programs in the states of Connecticut, New York, Michigan, and California, together with a more extensive coverage of his own research on a…

This study, a monitor of four experimental training programs in the field of social policy planning, has as its purpose to assess program development and outcomes and to relate any significant findings useful in educational program development for social policy professionals. The programs are discussed at two levels: individually in terms of their…

Malnutrition can be defined as a lack of a sufficient quantity or quality of nutrients to maintain the body system at some definable level of functioning. It has been estimated that nearly half the children in the world today grow and develop under conditions of protein or protein-calorie malnutrition sufficient to impair their physical…

This paper explores the responsibility of social researchers in contributing to the policy formation of our governments regarding financial assistance to the poor, to blacks, and to varied social reform programs. It is suggested that, regardless of the intent on the part of authors of social research, their findings have been used as justification…

In the most narrow sense, compensatory education has failed; most Title I programs which seek to improve achievement have no discernible effect. This is apparently a result of the fact that the programs seek to provide for disadvantaged students more of the school resources which have never been found to affect the achievement of advantaged…

The papers included in this volume were originally prepared for the Social Science Panel brought together by the Division of Behavioral Sciences of the National Research Council at the request of the National Academy of Sciences--National Academy of Engineering's Advisory Committee to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The task of…