The need for traps, a program routine which checks the validity of the user's response to the computer's request for input, in Computer Assisted Learning Packages, is discussed. Several example traps are described. (MK)

The identification and description of the personnel components of a library and their interrelations are used to construct an input-output model similar to those used to analyze the interdependence among sectors in an economy. This model makes it possible to forecast personnel requirements resulting from changes in demands for library services.…

Defines and analyzes different approaches to contracting of foster care. The approaches are based on meeting standards specified in the contract. Using group foster care as an example, proposes a design for performance-based contracting that achieves intended objectives, yet is consistent with the values of the social work profession. (HTH)

Uses the multiplicative Cobb-Douglas production function to model Taiwanese economic output, 1953-85, as a function of labor and capital inputs and of measures of educational attainment. Finds that expanding junior high and vocational education met human capital needs and affected economic growth, whereas elitist senior high and tertiary education…

In this paper, we investigate the determinants of research output by European economics departments. We use data from a survey we conducted on the various characteristics of these departments. We pay particular attention to spillovers from North America to Europe and measure these in terms of visiting arrangements between academic institutions…

"Employment Research" is published quarterly by the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment and Research. Issues appear in January, April, July, and October. This issue of "Employment Research" presents an article that summarizes the author's study of the effects of high-quality universal preschool education when it is treated as an economic…

This paper discusses the rationale behind information-based approaches to school and systemic improvement and identifies some alternatives to the quality assurance model used in New South Wales (Australia). It outlines the structures established for identifying and reporting issues and trends on a systemic basis and discusses some of the…

This report summarizes strategies used by a monitoring commission to evaluate Project Creating a New Approach to Learning (CANAL), part of a court-mandated desegregation plan in Chicago (Illinois). The commission focused on the following areas: (1) the degree to which the project complied with activities in its funding proposal; (2) the level to…

A description is given of the structure and functional characteristics of three types of interactive computer graphic systems, developed by the Department of Computer Science at Carnegie-Mellon; a high-speed programmable display capable of displaying 50,000 short vectors, flicker free; a shaded-color video display for the display of gray-scale…

Support for public education wavers in a number of states due to a lack of evidence indicating that increased funding is associated with increases in output. Maintaining and increasing this support, however, is critical for rural communities as they seek to strengthen their human capital base as a strategy for economic growth and development. The…

The Education Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA) Chapter 2 Evaluation Unit provides program evaluation and evaluation technical services for designated ECIA Chapter 2 projects in the District of Columbia Public Schools. This report examines the status of inputs, processes, and outcomes, intended and observed, of the Evaluation Unit during…

In the last decade, a modeling technique has been developed to handle complex input/output analyses where outputs involve joint products and there are no known mathematical relationships linking the outputs or inputs. The technique uses the geometrical concept of a six-dimensional shape called a polytope to analyze the efficiency of each…

Social, philosophical, and economic pressures are confronting curriculum designers with the major problem of designing instruction which produces consistently high learning despite wide variation in student characteristics. This is essentially a cybernetic question of regulating variety in a system to produce a stable output. It is observed that…

This paper presents a brief final report of the system and products of the cost-effectiveness/benefit analysis project conducted at Indiana University which combined the two concepts of cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis into a cost-effectiveness/benefit analysis model for postsecondary vocational programs. The project also developed…

The financial condition of public employee retirement systems, including teacher retirement systems (TRSs), has become a matter of public concern, intensified by recent debate over the future of the Social Security System. This report provides some basic data about TRS financial condition. It reviews how to assess TRS financial health, discusses…