The purpose of this collection of five essays is to present a sample of the diverse directions taken by economists in their analysis of education. Topics discussed include the effects of earnings on human capital formation; the production function and its use in the study of education; goals and accountability; domestic educational finance and the…

Mergers of city school districts with surrounding ones lead to the dilemma of whether or not to bus children out of their neighborhoods. A review of recent desegregation litigation shows that courts still require the elimination of inequalities, but busing is not mandatory. Alternatives such as magnet schools are encouraged. (VM)

Education reform efforts across the United States are dramatically raising expectations for student achievement. However, the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) found that teachers have not been adequately prepared for the changes in practice needed to meet new student learning goals. This publication briefly examines research…

Strategies for initiating and sustaining complex education change, as reported in this paper, entail coordinated interaction across administrative levels of public education systems. Efforts to change schooling in England have included initiatives to downsize and reconfigure the provision of state-funded education. These efforts have created…

Noting that current programs for young children outside the home lack a comprehensive infrastructure or support system to stand behind the delivery of services to the child and family, this paper proposes the development of a support infrastructure designed to provide continuing and effective assistance to those who work with young children. A…

This volume addresses issues of interest to the education-finance community. Its five articles are intended to promote the exchange of ideas among researchers and policymakers. The papers address advances in measuring education inflation and adjusting for it; the emergence of a new focus upon spending at the school level; new, private sources of…

This paper examines the political interaction surrounding the resolution of educational issues in the New Mexico legislative budget process for the fiscal year 2000. It contains information about school vouchers, charter schools, collective bargaining and related personnel issues, and criticism of Governor Johnson's stance on public education in…

This report uses national data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97) to evaluate the effectiveness of the types of school-to-career (STC) programs that were encouraged and supported in California by the grants received by the state from the federal School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 (STWOA). In particular, the…

This issue of "The Progress of Education Reform" provides a brief summary of several recent research studies on the role and value of education in the arts, as well as a look at the results of National Assessment of Educational Progress tests in music, visual arts and theater. A growing body of evidence points to the important role of arts…

The status of research on administrative problems caused by declining enrollments is discussed, and a theoretical framework for administrative decision making is presented. Managing enrollment declines is difficult because administrators are forced to deal simultaneously with increasing costs and staff reductions. (PP)

This paper examines the responses of an academic subunit, a college within a university, to declining enrollment and funding over a period of eight years. Responses examined include budgetary, programmatic, and technical (operational) adjustments associated with the instructional function of the college. (CJ)

Examines American independent schools (parochial, southern segregated, and private institutions) in terms of their funding, expenditures, changing enrollment patterns, teacher-student ratios, and societal functions. Journal available from Daedalus Subscription Department, 1172 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 02132. (AM)

School finance reform litigation has been an important issue among educators and legislators over the last decade. A history of the reform movement is given in two phases from 1965 to 1979. A summary and analysis of reform legislation concludes the report. (JN)

Choices about organizational design and leadership strategy must be made to create and implement an effective student affairs educational fundraising program. This chapter explains the educational fundraising process in detail, and a model institutional advancement program for student affairs is described. (Author)

Higher Education faces two issues in capital renewal and replacement: (1) quantifying and funding the accumulated backlog of capital needs due to deferred maintenance, and (2) developing an ongoing funding plan to ensure backlogs do not accumulate in the future. (MSE)