Surveys and benchmarks continue to grow in importance for community colleges in response to several factors. One is the press for accountability, that is, for colleges to report the outcomes of their programs and services to demonstrate their quality and prudent use of resources, primarily to external constituents and governing boards at the state…

Research can and should inform teaching and learning. The importance of solid research evidence can, therefore, not be underestimated. Unfortunately, significant gaps still exist between research evidence, policy, and practice. The literature suggests there are many reasons for this, including a lack of awareness about the benefits of research, a…

Despite expansive improvements in both treatments and research, the majority of persons with autism use non-empirically supported interventions. One way to decrease the research-to-practice gap involves increasing the direct applicability of research findings to clinical settings. Effectiveness research achieves this goal by identifying treatments…

The overall objective of the project described in this report was to assess the impact of research, exemplary projects, and associated technical services, sponsored by Kentucky's Research Development Unit (RDU), on Kentucky vocational education during the 1970 through 1975 period. Six major sections are included. The introduction presents an…

A study was conducted to understand better a common problem in job development efforts in rehabilitation--the poor returns of mailed-out surveys and, therefore, identification of few job leads for further cultivation. Two experimental job development investigations were used, one with large firms and one with small firms, to examine the effect of…

College public relations officers are urged to incorporate regular and systematic evaluation into program administration. The process of planning public relations activities would include qualitative research to identify issues; audience-specific surveys to gauge attitudes; action to accomplish objectives; and measurement of that action's…

The utility of a quasi-experimental evaluation design for estimating benefits derived from a program to match job-seekers to openings listed by employers was examined in three studies of Job Service referrals and placements in Washington and Oregon. Data examined included a mail survey of a sample of 587 Washington residents referred to job…

This study is one of the "knowledge development" activities mounted in conjunction with research, evaluation, and development activities funded under the Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act of 1977 (YEDPA). It focuses on the impacts of Job Corps participation on a large group of participants after 18 months to two years.…

This volume (and volume 2 of this report) are products of the knowledge development effort implemented under the mandate of the Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act of 1977 (YEDPA). This report on assessment of the Job Corps presents a large array of studies ranging from rigorous impact and benefit-cost evaluations to survey of…

This report is one of the products of the knowledge development effort implemented under the mandate of the Youth Employment and Demonstration Projects Act of 1977 (YEDPA). It describes an aspect of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) program--the personal characteristics, economic backgrounds, and pre-CETA year experiences of…