In various research areas, the availability of open datasets is considered as key for research and application purposes. These datasets are used as benchmarks to develop new algorithms and to compare them to other algorithms in given settings. Finding such available datasets for experimentation can be a challenging task in technology enhanced…

This paper presents part I of the "Massachusetts Primer on Special Education and Charter Schools." It provides an explanation of a charter school's legal status within the Massachusetts public education system and a synopsis of federal laws that are most relevant to special education in charter schools. The information is intended for…

A report of preliminary findings and analysis from student discussion groups held on 7 U.S. campuses in Fall 2008, as part of Project Information Literacy. Qualitative data from discussions with higher education students across the country suggest that conducting research is particularly challenging. Students' greatest challenges are related to…

This paper presents the second part of "Massachusetts Primer on Special Education and Charter Schools." This section is an introduction for new staff members of state agencies and others who need an overview of topics related to Massachusetts students with disabilities enrolled in Massachusetts charter schools. The information focuses on…

This paper presents the third part of the "Massachusetts Primer on Special Education and Charter Schools." Part III addresses the issues concerning the education of students with disabilities at all stages in the development and operation of a Massachusetts charter school. The information is intended to inform those who are responsible…

Part of the Project CAREER guidance component, this manual was created to assist educators in understanding and effectively using the "Dictionary of Occupational Titles" (DOT). The manual is essentially a workbook of exercises in DOT utilization. Materials excerpted from Appendixes A and B of DOT, Volume II, are appended. (TA)

The Fall River Institute for Leadership was established in 1984 to aid administrators in learning about recent studies, programs, and practices in the field of leadership development and to help Fall River's 102 administrators refine their leadership skills. This article provides an overview of the institute's program. (MT)

Public schools in the United States are facing a growing literacy crisis. Approximately a quarter of the population of 12th-grade students are still reading below basic levels, which means that they are barely able to comprehend at a literal level, make interpretations, identify relevant information, make simple inferences, and recognize and…

This publication consists of two separate but related parts, a handbook that discusses possible approaches to developing improved school-community collaboration and a resource directory that lists approximately 800 agencies and publications that may be helpful to educators and citizens who are contemplating some type of collaborative arrangement.…

Four articles from this special report examine the charter school movement and whether it has the staying power to change American schooling. The articles are: (1) "Declarations of Independence" (Mark Walsh), which discusses the Boston Renaissance and Marblehead charter schools in Massachusetts, among others; (2) "Laws of the…

Various procedures, technologies, and products were developed by the Massachusetts Board of Regents and the Massachusetts Community Colleges in implementing the student followup component of the Vocational Education Data System (VEDS). The Board of Regents took the lead in coordinating the VEDS followup study among the 15 state-supported community…

This study provides a detailed description of the process by which parents choose schools for their children and the process by which urban schools adjust to the necessity of convincing parents to choose them. The Parent Information Center programs in the Massachusetts communities of Boston, Cambridge, Fall River, Lawrence, Lowell, and Springfield…

A guide intended to clarify some concerns relating to collective bargaining in Massachusetts libraries considers both public institutions within the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Public Employee Collective Bargaining Law and private institutions under the National Labor Relations Act. Provisions of both pieces of legislation as to bargaining…

To explore why school administrators have only a limited base of knowledge of the laws and cases affecting education, the Informational Resource Questionnaire (IRQ) was designed to study attitudes about legal knowledge. The IRQ focuses on school demographics, which resources administrators most commonly use to obtain both general and legal…

This handbook, one of the Massachusetts Dissemination Project's "Resources for Schools" series, is a sampling of exemplary guidance and counseling programs in Massachusetts schools. It is designed as a practical tool for guidance personnel, teachers, administrators, and other school personnel concerned about strengthening pupil personnel…