This paper examines the prevalence and the costs of pre-entry coaching programs before and after the introduction of the Unified State Examination in Russia. The efficiency of private tutoring under the new standardized university admission procedures is estimated. It is argued that the main types of pre-entry coaching are still in demand, however…

A large scale study was undertaken to shed light on the question of school district efficiency, that is, the extent to which school districts are able to increase achievement beyond what would be expected from their families socioeconomic origins. Average scores on state-developed and nationally-standardized tests of third, sixth, and ninth…

An efficiency study was conducted of the base year design used for the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS). Finding the optimal design involved a search for the numbers of sample schools and students that would maximize the variance at a given cost. Twenty-one variables describing students' plans, attitudes,…

An efficiency study was conducted of the sampling design used for the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS), and the change variables used in the first followup. Nine alternative designs were compared, using a cost model based upon the number of schools and students sampled. Fourteen change variables and eight domains…