This report presents findings on the role of tuition in financing higher education and as payment by students and parents. The content is organized into 11 chapters grouped into six parts. Part 1 is an enrollment profile of students who opt to attend college. Topics covered include starting conditions, such as student academic skills, family…

An overview of market research is provided, with advice about conducting market research for the educator. Market research is any kind of research that gives information about the current state of the market and offers guidance in improving one's position in that market. The relative advantages of conducting market research by oneself or by hiring…

This eight chapters of this special issue introduce the use of a template to specify program components as a new tool for program evaluation. The template articulates the components needed for program delivery and provides a systematic method for assessing program implementation. (SLD)

The six articles of this issue discuss the place of meta-analysis in the health professions and present two state-of-the-art meta-analyses using a variety of innovative methodologies, statistics, and secondary analytic procedures. A survey conducted for this issue and its sequel explores interventions to facilitate meta-analysis. (SLD)

This policy research brief summarizes changes in out-of-home placements of children and youth with mental retardation since the implementation of the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) entitlements. Statistics are reported for 1977, 1987, and 1997 to show trends. Statistics were obtained from…

Educational indicators are statistical input/output measures providing information on the health of the educational system. This report for the consideration of the Council of Chief State School Officers characterizes the current state of educational indicators as in "shambles." It proposes a three phase framework for developing a sensitive and…

This report presents two large tables showing trends in the financing of public higher education since 1977-78. Introductory information explains how to use the tables, the data-time relationship (whether fiscal year, academic year, or calendar year), and includes a sample chart constructed from one state's data. The raw data used for these…

The 12 issues of this 1998 publication each contain one or more analyses of postsecondary educational opportunities, including tables and charts. Titles of the individual analytical articles are: "Pell Grant Program Participation, FFY 1974 to FFY 1999"; "Poverty Rates by Educational Attainment, 1996"; "Refinancing Higher…

The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation has commissioned studies of state academic standards in five core subjects. This is the third of these studies, concentrating on geography, the core subject that has been the most neglected in the U.S. academic curriculum. Standards documents were solicited from all the states, and were submitted by 38 states and…

The seven chapters of this special issue explore problems in how to better understand the reasoning process that is used to establish evaluative conclusions. The many unanswered questions about reasoning should stimulate further investigation of the meaning of sound evaluative reasoning. (SLD)

The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation has commissioned studies of state academic standards in five core subjects. This is the second of these studies, focusing on standards for history. After the controversy surrounding the proposed "national history standards" in 1994, history has become a subject with no generally accepted national standards.…

The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation has commissioned studies of state academic standards in five core subjects. This is the fifth of these studies, focusing on state standards for science. Thirty-six states presented standards for evaluation. Some states were in the process of revising standards, while others simply had no standards to present.…

This brief paper reports on an evaluation of 10 community rehabilitation providers, six that successfully closed a facility-based program between 1989 and 1994, and four who are currently involved in a change process. Data collection consisted of participant observation, in-depth interviews, and document analysis. Findings indicated: (1)…

MicroCAT version 3.0--an integrated test development, administration, and analysis system--is reviewed in this first article of a series on testing software. A framework for comparing testing software is presented. The strength of this package lies in the development, banking, and administration of items composed of text and graphics. (SLD)

The seven articles of this special issue focus on theory and research related to survey methods and whether evaluators need information that is absent from the larger survey literature. These articles reflect the view that the considerations relating to good survey research apply also to using surveys in evaluation. (SLD)