The study described in this book was designed by the Southwest Regional Laboratory as part of a proposal to create a Metropolitan Center for the Far West Laboratory. The Center would focus on the challenges facing urban educators in its service area. Metropolitan school districts, characterized by high numbers of minority students, successfully…

This report provides a roadmap for addressing the issues related to the integration of technology into the educational setting. To achieve full technology integration, Adult Education programs will be required to go through systemic changes with implications for budget and resource allocation, professional development and training, certification…

Surveyed stakeholder groups in the New Zealand university system to determine each groups' criteria for measuring university library performance. Compared responses of resource allocators, senior library staff, other library staff, academic staff, and graduate and undergraduate students, and found that the groups have different perspectives on…

This report analyzes the uses of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part B discretionary/set-aside, administrative, and flow-through funds for school reform activities. Telephone interviews were held with state directors of special education or staff from nine state education agencies (California, New Mexico, Iowa, Illinois,…

This document summarizes the results of a 1994 survey regarding the use of document suppliers by 90 ARL (Association of Research Libraries) members. A document supplier was defined as "a company or service that supplies documents for a fee." Document suppliers are increasingly used by research libraries as cost-effective solutions to the…

This kit developed by the Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) presents results of a survey of development and fundraising activities in libraries that are members of ARL, as well as some sample documents used in connection with development and fundraising. Eighty-seven institutions…

The validity and reliability of the Institutional Performance Survey (IPS) as an institutional self-study instrument were assessed, with a focus on four types of validity (content, face, construct, and concurrent) and three types of reliability (test-retest, internal consistency, and rater reliability). It was found that IPS appears to reasonably…

State-level policy leaders were surveyed in fall 1981 to determine the emerging issues in postsecondary education among the states and to ascertain policy leaders' attitudes toward these issues. A total of 683 surveys were distributed and 214 usable surveys were returned, representing 202 agencies. The overall impressions created by policy…

Designated as Appendices C-G, the five reports in this collection complete the final report of a survey of 239 minority colleges and universities which was conducted to determine both the current status and the desired status of instructional computing at these schools. The executive summary (see related document) includes Appendices A and…

Creating learning environments and learning experiences for students has always been at the heart of student affairs work. This document is intended to provide guidelines, titled "Principles of Good Practice," as to how student affairs can advance student learning, and it serves as a framework to aid student affairs in meeting challenges…

The complexity of the federal tax code has been the focus of reform efforts for decades, and has received considerable attention in the economic literature. The federal system for distributing student financial aid is similarly convoluted, yet has received relatively little attention from economists. For the typical household, the aid application…

Annual high school media center expenditures in Georgia were analyzed to determine what portions of the budget were being spent on print, non-print, and technology resources by high school media specialists. A 5-part 13-item questionnaire was developed as a data-gathering instrument. The questionnaire was distributed to all high school media…

The Individual Education Plan (IEP) has been adopted in New Zealand both as a method of planning instruction and as a method of obtaining additional, discretionary resources for students with special needs. This study investigated the IEP process for meeting the needs of students with disabilities in New Zealand schools. A random sample of 36…

This report presents the results of a study of the condition of higher education facilities in the United States and offers recommendations to improve the deteriorating state of such facilities. The 1995 survey examined statistical, financial, and operational data gathered through mailed questionnaires returned by 400 institutions. The results…

Computer based assessment was introduced into an introductory economics course at the University of Queensland during the second semester of 1986. Over 600 students used computer generated and graded random tests for a number of assignments. A commercial computer managed learning (CML) software package was used to administer and grade tests and to…