This paper defines benchmarking and its relationship to quality management, describes a project which applied the technique in a library context, and explores the relationship between performance measurement and benchmarking. Numerous benchmarking methods contain similar elements: deciding what to benchmark; identifying partners; gathering…

The 1988-89 California state budget provided funding to support the development of pilot programs extending high school-community college career articulated programs to the baccalaureate level. By 1990-91, 24 of these "2 + 2 + 2" programs had been funded, including 14 projects in career education, 8 in teacher education, and 2 in home…

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 Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), initiated in 1987-88, was conducted in 1990-91 to provide data on the nation's elementary and secondary school teaching force, aspects of teacher supply and demand, teacher workplace conditions, characteristics of school administrators, and school policies and practices. The sample for the 1990-91 survey…

During the 1982-83 school year, a quality/performance circles system model was implemented at Lakeshore Technical Institute (LTI) to promote greater participation by staff in decision making and problem solving. All management staff at the college (N=45) were invited to participate in the process, and 39 volunteered. Non-management staff (N=240)…

Cargill Scholars is a comprehensive, five-year program that aims to improve students' scholastic performance by raising academic expectations, preventing high-risk behavior, and improving life skills. The program serves 50 socio-economically-disadvantaged children who attend school in Minneapolis or its northern and western suburbs. The program…

This document reports on the activities and achievements of a federally supported project in Arizona to provide inservice early childhood personnel with the necessary competencies and strategies to facilitate the inclusion of assistive technology for young children with disabilities. The 5-year project focused on three major assistive technology…

Study of 430 University of Michigan first-year medical students' satisfaction with their learning environment resulted in a predictive model using gender and minority group (excluding Asians) status. Results suggest curriculum structure and students' perceptions of faculty priorities are prominent predictors of student satisfaction across…

This article examines the antecedents and consequences of residential choice and school transfers within one of the eight largest urban school districts in Texas. This study is based on survey data from a representative sample of parents of K-12 students enrolled in this district. In addition to demographic characteristics of the family, the…

This paper discusses the comprehensive evaluation of a new Ed.D. Program in Educational Leadership housed in East Carolina University's (ECU) School of Education. The program proposed to prepare students for professional life through development of career leadership skills; utilization, development, and dissemination of research; and service to…

The model used to evaluate the mathematics curriculum of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools (Maryland) involved three phases: the curriculum; instruction, or the implementation of the curriculum; and students' attitudes, performance, and later success. The evaluation was conducted in 1984. Data were collected from seven sources: a review of…

The Step-Up to College Program was initiated in the summer of 1980 to provide basic skills instruction in English and mathematics for incoming freshmen, re-entry adult students, and high school students and adults considering college. Program participants who were enrolled in both the English and math courses (N=125) were asked to take part in a…

Designed to assist California policy and decision makers with planning to meet the future educational needs of limited-English speaking (LES) and non-English speaking (NES) students, this study was undertaken: (1) to describe and analyze the implementation of all areas of the legislatively required services to LES/NES children, and the structures…

This report provides a summary of six summative evaluation studies that were implemented and completed between 1999 and 2002. The evaluations were conducted on three different streams of Canada's Youth Employment Strategy (YES). The Youth Employment Strategy was introduced by the federal government in 1997 to address employment related challenges…

The Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE) documents dimensions of quality in legal education and provides information and assistance to law schools and other organizations to improve student learning. LSSSE annually surveys law students to assess the extent to which they engage in educational practices associated with high levels of…