Large changes in educational composition of the Netherlands labor force in the past two decades have produced marked changes in the distribution of individuals by education level across job levels. Undereducation has been reduced, and overeducation has been increased. The latter situation does not imply inefficiency because even years of…

Analysis of vocational adjustment for 109 male and 89 female mentally retarded workers (ages 16-45) indicated that while no single factor predicted vocational success, work-related personality traits and basic work skills should be emphasized. It is concluded that mental retardation and vocational inadequacy should be considered separately.…

Procedures for conducting an effective school board meeting at the Sidney Central School District, New York, include a monthly packet of information for board members, an unlisted telephone line to the superintendent's desk, and an agenda that lists future business for upcoming meetings. These procedures enable issues to be understood, discussed,…

Recent methodological advances are described that enable the analyst to extract additional information from the data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology, including goal programming to develop cross-efficiencies, cluster analysis, analysis of variance, and pooled cross section time-series analysis. Some shortcomings of DEA are discussed. (LMO)

The study examined the impact of computer technology on written business communication. Experimental groups (using microcomputers) and control groups (using typewriters) produced four written assignments. Findings indicate that computer use has a positive effect on attitudes about assignments but no effect on time efficiency or product quality.…

Outlines research on how expert teachers function in the classroom. Shows the structure of an expert teacher's lessons and how she handles content in the teaching of mathematics. The studies suggest that content knowledge is critical and that expert teachers manage time and academic engagement equally well. (MD)

The University of Montpelier I's 1969 statutes permitting maximum autonomy for the faculties of law and economics, medicine, and pharmacology resulted in a well-established division between the university's constituent parts and an unwillingness to pool resources to effect savings. (MSE)

In many colleges, the business office has been isolated from other departments. The modern college business office reflects the highly efficient and technologically supported activities found in industry that have resulted in better services to the whole institution. (Author/MSE)

Computers, though they can help educational institutions manage their facilities efficiently, are no substitute for good judgment. Before computerizing, institutions should systematize their records and evaluate their information needs; they should take care not to acquire unnecessary systems or become over-reliant on computers. (MCG)

Quality Circle members identify problems, select one for attention, analyze the potential causes of the problem, and identify and select preferred solutions that are proposed to the administration. Skills, knowledge, and experience gained by people in an education Quality Circle become theirs as well as those of the school. (MLF)

Helpful hints on a number of subjects. (MLF)

This research brief describes how to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis. The first task is to find out if there are differences in the costs of operating program alternatives through the following steps: (1) describing each program alternative and its components and potential benefits; (2) determining the costs of the alternatives by…

Food service, transportation and building cleaning and maintenance are big business and are seen as candidates for privatization. In Ohio, a 30-item questionnaire was developed for the state's school district superintendents. Results were generated from the 143 questionnaires that were returned (70 percent response rate). Findings show that Ohio's…

This monograph describes a variety of approaches to understanding how cost and quality are related and offers analytical tools. The analyses focus on the direct cost of instruction for a course, a course of study, or an academic program and do not include related support services such as the library or academic computing. Following an introductory…

This policy brief examines the graduation efficiency index (GEI), a measure developed by the University of Washington to enable the state to measure a student's or institution's efficiency in graduation. The study compares the GEI index with time-to-degree, the most widely used related measure, and finds that the latter does not measure student…