Challenges that face the academic research enterprise are numerous. These concerns include, but are not limited to: declines in extramural funding for investigatorinitiated research, an aging faculty workforce (the average age of securing a faculty's first R01 is over 42), insufficient funds to support faculty laboratories, and limited access to…

This study was designed to examine the decision-making process for keeping or cutting the music program in one selected public school district. Lekbery School District, in the Detroit suburb of Lekbery, Michigan, had not made extreme cuts to the music program in over 10 years, nor had it specifically targeted the music program when budgets cuts…

Michigan's School Aid fund increased once more this year, but many school administrators in the state continue to hunt for effective measures to reduce spending due to increased pension costs and phased-out stimulus money. Many options available for trimming costs, such as enacting pay-to-play for sports, are extremely unpopular for districts and…

Michigan school districts face tough choices allocating their resources to provide students with an education. Despite increased spending in Michigan schools, school boards regularly have to find ways to trim expenses, and sometimes that means lowering employment benefits, eliminating positions and other moves that few school board members enjoy.…

Michigan's state-run school system is the largest and most expensive government service taxpayers support. It employs more than 350,000 people who work in one of the more than 4,100 different entities. The total amount this system expends each year adds up to more than $20 billion. Given the enormity and complexity of the system, it's no surprise…

Privatization of support services has been a method that Michigan school districts have used for several years to lower costs. More than ever before, Michigan school districts are privatizing the three main support services they offer--food, custodial and transportation. The annual survey finds that 48.8 percent of Michigan school districts are…

The goal of this study was to estimate the effects of district efficiency on student achievement in Michigan with the hope that objective analysis might serve to ease progress through the troublesome political process any transition to an adequacy-based school finance model will encounter. This study draws upon the methodology used by Phelps and…

In the passionate debates over providing equal educational opportunity for all children, it's frequently argued that large financial inequities create challenges for many public schools, particularly those in lower-income urban areas. This study compares the revenues and operating expenditures of Michigan's urban, suburban, town and rural school…

A TWO-PART STUDY WAS CONDUCTED TO IDENTIFY THE FACTORS WHICH CONTRIBUTE TO SUCCESSFUL MEDIA INNOVATION AND INSTRUCTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, AND TO ESTABLISH GUIDELINES TO SERVE OTHERS. IN PART A, THE OPERATION OF MEDIA SUPPORT AGENCIES AT MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF SELECTED COURSES OF STUDY EMPLOYING THE NEWER MEDIA WERE REVIEWED.…

Objective: In 1997, Michigan's Family Independence Agency piloted case management procedures designed to expedite permanency and improve services to children in foster care. Method: A 3-year evaluation examined outcomes in nine pilot and nine comparison counties to determine if children in the pilot counties achieved permanency, either returned…