Across the United States, a movement to create a new kind of public school--"autonomous district schools"--is giving districts the freedoms charter schools receive. Like charter schools, autonomous district schools are freed from innovation-inhibiting state and district policies, allowing talented educators to make academic and…

Community mobilization is a strategy that organizes a community across sectors for long-term change, and is one way for communities to provide supports for young people to make healthy sexual choices. In the context of teen pregnancy, community mobilization can address the interconnected web of factors that influence teen sexual attitudes by…

Purpose of the Study: I examine whether 5 aspects of a significant other's death quality (pain, decision-making capacity, location, problems with end-of life care, and preparation) affect whether one does advance care planning (ACP). I also identify specific aspects of others' deaths that respondents say triggered their own planning. Design and…

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for donors on how to target their giving, with profiles of successful gifts. American philanthropists long have been generous in their support of colleges and universities. But donors do not always find the results they envisioned for their generosity and good intentions. ACTA has responded by…

A major focus of charter school research has been the potential impact of increased school choice on student sorting by race/ethnicity and socio-economic status. Researchers have argued that charter schools may increase segregation by allowing families to separate into more homogeneous school communities. Yet surprisingly, little attention has…

Increasingly, there is a growing realization in alumni relations that successful alumni programs, benefits, and services are not ends in and of themselves. Rather, alumni engagement is ultimately all about the institution. Success in alumni relations ideally advances an institution's overall forward progress. Twenty years ago, alumni strategic…

The feasibility of applying multiattribute utility theory to the needs assessment and priority-setting activities of human services planning councils was studied in Essex County (New Jersey). Decision-making and information filtering processes are explored in the context of community planning. (SLD)

Information is presented from a study by the Council of New Jersey State College Locals to get facts on budgets, enrollments, New Jersey, the nation, and trends over the last decade in order to help the citizens of New Jersey determine what policies will best meet their needs in the 1990s. In June of 1987, the Chancellor submitted a Five-Year…

Experiences in systems-development for state information systems are summarized for eight pilot-test state agencies, as part of the State Level Information Base project. Attention is directed to the evaluation of information needs; hardware and software choices; survey administration; data organization, storage, and linkages; and staffing…

Experiences of pilot-test state agencies in developing an information system are summarized, as part of the State Level Information Base project. The background and functions of each of the eight pilot-test state agencies are described, along with the information systems approach, and planning responsibilities (comprehensive planning, budgeting,…

The State Employment and Training Commission (SETC) was charged with the responsibility of designing and helping to implement a unified work force readiness system for New Jersey. In 1991, the Unified State Plan for New Jersey's Workforce Readiness System addressed three key areas: lifelong learning, employers' human resource needs, and efficient…

The study focused on individual high school seniors and their high school programs; school, work, and life values; educational and occupational goals; and decision-making criteria for postsecondary plans. The project, based on the 1972 National Longitudinal Study, had three components: field testing, the base year survey, and follow-up survey.…

A multi-dimensional needs assessment model has been developed to provide a research tool for the review of statewide curriculum needs in vocational education. The model provides for an integrated review of selected demographic, educational, and decision-making data to target vocational education program areas and occupational titles for additional…

In 1985 a project was developed to strengthen policy guiding regionalization of occupational programs in New Jersey county community colleges. The project had three major goals: to establish a policy for the regionalization of selected occupational programs offered by the colleges; to describe ways that programs could be identified for regional…

This paper first explains the unique role and functions of educational research at a state level and how it differs from institutional research and experimental and quasi-experimental research. The unique opportunities and constraints are also elaborated. State educational research has the advantage of central and comprehensive information as well…