This project is an attempt at a statewide collection of baseline information on guidance counselors and the services being offered by those counselors in the school districts of Pennsylvania. Data were collected on: (1) counselors; (2) guidance program characteristics as described by counselors; and (3) the various publics being served by the…

This final report of the Pennsylvania Research Coordinating Unit for Vocational Education (RCU) summarizes activities during the period from August 1966 to August 31, 1969. Major activities and accomplishments of the RCU include program initiation, development of research and related activities, ancillary research and related projects, the…

On May 4, 1970, the State of Pennsylvania entered upon a new era of school administration with the passage of Act 102. This act established the Intermediate Unit (IU), which provides consultative, advisory, or education program services to school districts, as the middle echelon of a three-echelon educational system (school district, intermediate…

This follow-up study of associate degree graduates from career curricula at Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC, Pennsylvania), attempts to: (1) investigate the activities of these graduates; and (2) obtain opinions from these graduates and their employers about their education and employment. Data were obtained from questionnaires sent to the…

Information on GSL defaults in five states is reviewed: California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Default rates are defined and levels of default are examined using a variety of analytical methods. (Author/MLW)

Strategic Programs for Innovations in Undergraduate Physics (SPIN-UP) set out to answer an intriguing question: Why, in the 1990s, did some physics departments increase the number of bachelor's degrees awarded in physics or maintain a number much higher than the national average for their type of institution? During that decade, the number of…

The purpose of this study is to identify users of Pennsylvania public libraries and determine their reasons for using the library. In addition, the study provides information describing the impacts and benefits to those users as a result of their contact with the public library. The objectives were to: (1) describe users in terms of their…

This is the first annual report of the 17-month initial study of Pennsylvania charter schools. The document contains interim information about the status and development of the state's charter schools and the charter-school initiative as a whole; it is not intended to be a summative evaluation of individual schools or the initiative, and it is not…

The status of environmental education in elementary teacher education programs in Pennsylvania was previously unknown. This study was undertaken to survey all of the preservice elementary teacher education institutions in the state using a mailed questionnaire. The response rate was approximately 57%. The results indicate that the inclusion of…

Business faculty members teaching at undergraduate campuses of the Pennsylvania State University were surveyed in order to assess their satisfaction with free Web sources and with subscription databases for their professional research. Although satisfaction with the Web's ease of use was higher than that for databases, overall satisfaction for…

Since 2001-2002, standards-based accountability (SBA) provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) have shaped the work of public school teachers and administrators in the United States. NCLB requires each state to develop content and achievement standards in several subjects, administer tests to measure students' progress toward…

Results of a survey of the employment status of Pennsylvania college graduates are presented. A total of 39,207 graduates were surveyed (about 66.1 percent of the graduates at all degree levels). Statistical tables and narrative explanations cover: associate degree graduates, baccalaureate graduates, baccalaureate graduates in fields other than…

A study was conducted at the 14 community colleges (17 campuses) in Pennsylvania to assess the perceptions of faculty about the relative importance of course content items in a beginning credit course in computer literacy, and to survey courses currently being offered. A detailed questionnaire consisting of 96 questions based on MECC (Minnesota…

A 1982 questionnaire survey of 4,800 Pennsylvania public school administrators sought to determine what topics the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) should present in its "Executive Academy" programs. The Executive Academy was created to help the state's school districts and intermediate units improve their administrative and…

A random sample of 111 industry representatives from 4 standard metropolitan areas in Pennsylvania offered opinions on how to improve critical aspects of vocational education in the state. Employers gathered at one of four sites and dealt with questions regarding students' basic skills, technical job skills, and job attitudes. Group discussions…