The question of how information is used by parents in selecting schools is a central issue in school choice debates, where advocates and opponents frequently intermingle theory (often economic), ideological beliefs, and empirical evidence in constructing arguments about the potential of this reform. We employ a nomination strategy to analyze…

Describes three basic approaches to needs assessment--problem identification, problem analysis, and problem verification--and assesses them in terms of their potential utility to users in business and educational settings as measured by their estimated time requirement, accuracy, and cost. Needs assessment data collection resources and techniques…

A study investigated the influence of various information sources on graduate students' communicative, social, and academic expectations. Specifically, the study examined whether (1) those students who received preentry information about a university from an informal source would perceive that more of their expectations were met than would those…

Several contextual factors were investigated related to the information needs of educational administrators. In a survey of 119 administrators, the following issues were studied: (1) varying preferences for different information sources; (2) the effects on preferences for information sources of different decision or program development tasks; (3)…

Early development of college fact books, with origins in statistical reports of organizations, parallels the development of institutional research. The fact book, most visible of all institutional research reports, reflects the accomplishments and status of institutional research as an integral part of higher education, as data and decision-making…

A new model for college fact books is proposed, to create a new generation of institutional research reports that offer more comparative and unit- or topic-specific information, with illustrations, that would be useful for current decision-making needs. (MSE)