Discusses needs assessment as a problem-focusing strategy and examines several definitions of need. Considers five purposes for assessing needs, and presents six guiding principles for the work of a needs assessment team. (RC)

Examines sources of national data on child abuse, the number of cases reported, and recent trends. The author addresses the issues of substantiation rates and the various categories of abuse, then provides brief examinations of the characteristics of the victims of abuse and of child fatalities related to maltreatment. (GLR)

In statistical terms, transfer rates require two components: a numerator that represents community college students who transfer and a denominator that approximates the pool of potential transfer students. The California Task Force adopted a set of criteria to judge the appropriateness of prospective pairs of numerators and denominators. Its form…