Studied policy maker attitudes toward education and education reform in general, focusing on educational vouchers. Survey responses from 89 state legislators from 6 states show that policy makers generally accept the market arguments used by voucher supporters but are sympathetic to equity concerns and funding issues raised by voucher opponents.…

Survey data found that legislative research agencies (n=47) do not rely on college and university personnel and, when they do, most of their reliance is grounded in informal, direct contacts with individuals. College faculty must demonstrate ability to deliver information in a timely fashion, promote the effectiveness of applied research, and…

Examines 2 important congressional debates about race relations, and the relationship of journalism to these debates, in the late 19th century. Suggests that political elites commonly used news, opinion, and perceptions in press content and by journalists to support, defend, and buttress certain policy positions in these debates. (SR)

Objective: To determine the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among incarcerated male adolescents and to investigate the influence of psychopathology on allocation to either plain detention or detention with compulsory treatment. Method: A cross-sectional study of a representative sample (N = 204) of incarcerated boys aged 12 to 18, using the…

Higher education has increasingly become critical to the nation's cultural, social, and economic well-being, with 90 percent of the fastest-growing jobs in the knowledge economy requiring some postsecondary education. While a college graduate can expect to earn, on average, approximately $1 million more over the course of his or her working life…

Members of the House of Representatives from 92 districts in 32 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia (21 percent) responded to a questionnaire soliciting information about the drug abuse situation in their congressional districts. Results from the questionnaire showed that over 96 percent of the respondents characterized drug abuse in…

The attitudes of 100 Alabama legislators toward higher education and about major issues facing higher education in the State were investigated. Surveys were returned by 79 house members (75 percent) and 21 senate members (60 percent). Attention was focused on legislators' views of the mission of higher education, how higher education should be…

The structure of U.S. congressional support for college student financial aid during the 96th and 97th Congresses was assessed. Senators' roll call votes on student aid legislation were analyzed, using factor and discriminant analysis. Using a content-free classification scheme, attention was directed to whether voting patterns were…

The Associated Press (AP) coverage of the United States senators in the 83rd, 89th, 91st, and 93rd Congresses was studied to determine the impact of various predictor variables. A path model of these variables was developed, reflecting implicit causal assumptions between visibility (press coverage) and such factors as the size of the senator's…

In response to a 34-item questionnaire, 112 members of the United States House of Representatives gave their opinions of network television coverage of House activities and members. It was found that respondents believed that their access to network television is poor when compared to the President and to the Senate, although their actions are as…

The power of the student vote in 91 Congressional districts where college enrollment exceeds the incumbent's margin of victory in the 1976 elections is presented. The article on student voters included in this report discusses voter registration rates among students, turnout of registered student voters, voting patterns of students, student voting…

Examines the legislator's role as education policy expert in the legislative policymaking process. In a study of Louisiana state legislators, analysis of variance was used to determine expert legislators' degree of influence in formulating educational policy, given differences in policy types, information sources, and legislators' work roles.…

A study aimed to examine how reading assessment information is understood and used by two powerful groups: federal legislators and members of the news media. Attempts were made to contact federal legislators on educational subcommittees to discuss how they used reading assessment information to make legislative policy decisions and to vote on…

This paper examines ways in which the state of Florida addressed and resolved pressures to respond to continuous demands for reform by using new and different reform paths. Florida had committed itself in 1991 to a standards-based reform strategy. This commitment was analyzed during the 1996 election year. For the study, a content analysis of all…

Findings from a study that explored the motivations of legislators to oversee and control program implementation are presented in this paper. Implementation is viewed as a contract between the legislative and executive branches with legislators acting as monitors who use oversight to control the agencies contracted to implement policy. A total of…