Forty years ago, the National Center for Education Statistics initiated the national longitudinal studies program in response to congressional concern for policy-relevant information on school-to-work transitions. This program has grown substantially, and not unexpectedly, questions have arisen about its usefulness and present operation. This…

This article describes the Voluntary Support for Education (VSE) Survey, an instrument created by the Council for Aid to Education. Our objective is to explain VSE's potential value as a tool to inform both institutional and academic research regarding fund-raising activities at community colleges. Of particular interest is how the data available…

Presents a cost-effective method developed to sample older Blacks by telephone using existing information from previous surveys. Asking Black adult respondents from a national survey and others in their households for referrals to parents or grandparents yielded approximately one older Black per Black respondent in the original survey. (JAC)

An experiment is described which uses a real-world sample of lawn fertilizer in a simple exercise to illustrate problems associated with the sampling step of a chemical analysis. A mixed-particle fertilizer containing discrete particles of iron oxide (magnetite, Fe[subscript 3]O[subscript 4]) mixed with other particles provides an excellent…

Intended as a supplement to the National Testing Service (NTS) project proposal of September 12, 1978, this report describes the status (as of November 15, 1978) of the evaluation design and the field implementation plan used for the national evaluation study of Head Start Educational Services and the Basic Educational Skills demonstration…

This report presents the conceptual framework and major features of the new design for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) as conducted by Educational Testing Service beginning July 1983. It comprises three major chapters. The first chapter reviews the social and environmental changes that demand reconsideration of NAEP. The new…

This volume reports the baseline (1978) data to be used in the 6-year longitudinal evaluation of the Child and Family Resource Program (CFRP). The CFRP, funded in 11 sites across the country as a Head Start demonstration program, is intended to develop models for providing services to low-income families with children from birth to eight years.…

This volume presents a summary of the methods, findings and recommendations for federal policy of the National Day Care Study (NDCS), a 4-year study of the effects of regulatable day care center characteristics on the quality and cost of day care for preschoolers. Chapter I describes current day care services and the history of federal involvement…

People who care about young people are aware of the serious problems caused by underage alcohol use. They should also be aware that there are many effective strategies for reducing underage drinking, and every state and community should be using these strategies. The "Guide to Conducting Youth Surveys" provides information about one important tool…