Funders and program planners want to know: What does it cost to operate a high-quality after-school or summer program? This study answers that question, discovering that there is no "right" number. Cost varies substantially, depending on the characteristics of the participants, the goals of the program, who operates it and where it is located.…

In fiscal year 1995, about 26 million students in about 94,000 schools nationwide were served lunches each day through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). In response to concerns raised about the amount of food thrown away by students (called plate waste), the General Accounting Office (GAO) surveyed a random sample of cafeteria managers in…

A revised edition of PS-14, "An Introduction to Benefit-Cost Analysis for Evaluating Public Programs," presents concepts and techniques of benefit-cost analysis as tools that can be used to assist in deciding between alternatives. The goals of the new edition include teaching students to think about the possible benefits and costs of each…

This manual describes a systematic process for conducting an educational needs assessment at the building level which includes suggestions for the formation of an advisory group and the use of two Likert Scale surveys. The advisory group is composed of parents, students, and educators; this group carries out the tasks of understanding, planning,…

Analytic support mechanisms that support institutional planning at the Medical University of South Carolina are described. The focus is productivity on "return on investment" of academic departments. The literature dealing with productivity and the inherent problems with productivity assessment in the academy is reviewed. In addition,…

In August 1993, J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, in Virginia, undertook a study of developmental education (DE) practices in community colleges in Virginia and the other 14 member states of the Southern Regional Education Board to determine factors associated with program effectiveness. Surveys were mailed to the presidents of 313 two-year…

Computer based assessment was introduced into an introductory economics course at the University of Queensland during the second semester of 1986. Over 600 students used computer generated and graded random tests for a number of assignments. A commercial computer managed learning (CML) software package was used to administer and grade tests and to…