Participatory research is an approach that calls for a democratic interaction between the researcher and those among whom the research is conducted. While this approach has been implemented with both individuals and groups in a wide variety of settings such as geographic communities, workplace situations, adult learning groups, community issue…

An assessment is provided of the progress of Maryland's Joint Coordinating Committee for Occupational Education Programs in developing a systematic procedure for the evaluation of the quality of occupational programs in Maryland. After presenting the 1976 resolution which established the joint committee, a project summary for fiscal year 1989 is…

The 47 papers in these proceedings describe computer technology and its many applications to the educational process. Topics discussed include computer literacy, networking, word processing, automated instructional management, computer conferencing, career information services, computer-aided drawing/design, and robotics. Programming languages…

Activities, results, and recommendations of a 2-year effort to implement and test a model for vocational and occupational education planning in Illinois are described. An introductory section presents an overview of the rationale and plan for establishing a Regional Occupational Education Coordinating Council composed of representatives of the…

A study was conducted to design a set of procedures for complying with the federal mandate for an employer followup of vocational education students. Procedures, designed on the basis of existing literature and federal guidelines, were pilot tested in two ways--one local-program based, the other local-program and state-agency based. The two…

Performance-based teacher certification in Georgia is centered on: criterion-referenced tests, and on-the-job assessment procedures for student teachers and beginning teachers. A state-funded contract was awarded to develop teacher certification tests, resulting in a 250-item pool and 15 criterion-referenced tests for 32 teaching fields. Cutting…

This handbook is a guide to accounting for school activity funds. It is designed for use by individual schools and school systems throughout the United States. The project was undertaken to meet the increasing concern of State and local school officials and the general public for safe ands economical handling of school activity money which amounts…

Describes a computer program that generates a bank of items for second-language learning drills, including the differential processing of nouns, adjectives, and verbs. The program is used in a New Testament Greek course at the University of the Orange Free State (South Africa), and the exercises generated are tied directly to the course textbook.…

A University of Minnesota pilot study of administrator evaluation had administrators (n=46) help define the leadership behaviors and outcomes on which they would be evaluated, then gain feedback from peers whose opinion they valued. The feedback process was computerized. Participants perceived the method as fair, valid, reliable, and personally…

The purpose of this publication is to identify the essential components of appropriate programming mandated by Alberta Education for students with special education needs, to provide examples of effective practices, to establish a common understanding of the terminology associated with this specialized field, and to clarify the meaning of…

Marketing in the business world has long used focus group interviews and survey techniques to explore the attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions of their customers. In the college setting, these same techniques are now being used to improve program quality, assess the effectiveness of publications, and explore the image of the college. At Durham…

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) represents the union of three surveys by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the Teacher Demand and Shortage Survey, the School and School Administrator Surveys, and the Teacher Survey. The SASS measures critical aspects of teaching supply and demand, the composition of the teacher and…

Issues surrounding the transfer function of California's community colleges are analyzed in this report. First, a historical overview is provided of the role of community colleges, their relationship to the California State University and the University of California systems, and expectations concerning transfer. Next, problems associated with…

The Austin (Texas) Independent School District conducts survey research as a means of collecting information from people affected by district policies and programs. Some general results are presented for the following surveys: (1) the School Climate Survey; (2) the Office of Research and Evaluation Coordinated Survey; and (3) the Former Student…

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) integrated some of its national surveys of educational information into the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), which was initiated in 1987-88 and is being repeated at intervals to provide information about the nation's schools and their educators. The 1988-89 Teacher Followup Survey (TFS), a…