This report presents concepts, procedures, and instruments to be used in studying staff development in educational settings. The report has been structured as a set of guidelines designed to help state agencies, county offices, teacher centers, universities, school districts, and local school faculties collaborate in investigating the dynamics of…

The basic principles of market analysis are examined in this paper especially as they relate to institutional planning. Introductory material presents background information, including: (1) a description of two projects undertaken to implement modern management techniques at small colleges; (2) an examination of three marketing philosophies; and…

The final report describes the Cantalician Center for Learning's Family/Infant Program, a 3 year demonstration project to enhance the growth and well being of developmentally disabled and at risk infants by helping family members become more effective caregivers and teachers. The first section covers the target population, provides a brief…

Studies of the use of ethnography as an evaluation tool in large-scale contract research studies were reviewed before data collection and design decisions were finalized in response to a Request for Proposal (RFP). Five tasks had to be accomplished before data collection could begin: study sites were selected, a system for data collection was…

This document deals with a common problem: the fact that "needs assessment" is often required by law and regulation, but there is little agreement on what the term means or what the process entails. The uses and definitions of the term "needs assessment" are examined and categorized along with the various methodologies which are ascribed to it.…

Internal validity is described as a matter of how well a particular instance of data collection or generation can be described and explained. It is a property of the procedures used in the collection or generation of data. The notion of internal validity is examined in order to establish a method of quantitatively estimating it. A coefficient of…

A reading program evaluation was conducted by the school district of Eugene, Oregon, during the 1976-1977 school year. Three major questions were to be answered: (1) Are the district's elementary reading programs effective according to the district's reading scope and sequence? (2) What makes effective programs effective? (3) If programs are not…

This paper investigates the role of data collection and analysis in the process of legislative evaluation of academic programs, a process which is influenced not only by the expectations and perceptions of both legislators and educators, but, most recently, by consumerism. Before educators can grapple effectively with their concerns over…

This system for predicting enrollment in the London Borough of Bromley was first developed for the Hertfordshire County Council and was modified to fit the unique situation in Bromley, including high mobility of the population and high proportion of children in private schools. The system divides the borough into 207 zones and produces forecasts…

The acquisitions staff at Wayne State University's Shiffman Medical Library has developed a validation system based on the requests for cataloging from the five teaching hospitals which are members of the Detroit Cooperative Cataloging Center (DC3). Located at Shiffman, DC3 provides data on members' acquisition activities which have assisted in…

One of four projects conducted by the American Statistical Association (ASA) in cooperation with the Bureau of the Census, the conference explored the most important and fruitful research and development topics within the user-oriented software domain. Its objectives were to (1) develop recommendations on mechanisms to improve access to and use of…

IN A SOCIAL SCIENCE FIELD RESEARCH PROJECT 80 YOUTH IN THE BEDFORD-STUYVESANT AREA OF BROOKLYN WILL BE TRAINED TO GATHER DATA ABOUT THEIR COMMUNITY AND WILL BE TAUGHT TO CODE AND EVALUATE THEIR FINDINGS. FOLLOWING THE COMPLETION OF THE COMMUNITY SURVEY, ONE-HALF OF THE TRAINEES WILL CONTINUE IN A 6-MONTH TRAINING PROGRAM IN COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION,…

A REPORT WAS GIVEN ON THE ASSUMPTIONS, FORMS, SAMPLE INFORMATION, CODING PROCEDURES AND THE METHODS OF ANALYSIS USED IN EXPLORING THE ROLE OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER. A SUMMARY OF TERMINOLOGICAL DISTINCTIONS IS PRESENTED AS WELL AS EXPLANATIONS OF EXCEPTIONS AND NORMS. PREVIOUS EMPIRICAL RESEARCH PERTINENT TO THIS AREA IS DISCUSSED AND LISTED.…

THE COMPILATION OF A FILE OF MEDIA RESEARCH LITERATURE, COVERING THE PERIOD FROM 1920 TO 1965, FOR USE WITH A COMPUTERIZED INFORMATION RETRIEVAL SYSTEM WAS DESCRIBED. PERIODICAL, NONPERIODICAL, PUBLISHED, AND UNPUBLISHED LITERATURE IN A NUMBER OF FIELDS WAS SCANNED. THE PROCEDURE WAS ONE OF FOLLOWING LEADS INDICATED BY REFERENCES ACCOMPANYING…

Needs sensing is any type of systematic assessment of needs ranging from formal data collection through surveys to a more informal use of expert opinion through advisory groups. It is especially difficult to use systematically collected, data-based needs in research and development (R & D) organizations because they typically: (1) have the…