Background: To advance early identification efforts, we must detect and characterize neurodevelopmental sequelae of risk among population-based samples early in development. However, variability across the typical-to-atypical continuum and heterogeneity within and across early emerging psychiatric/neurodevelopmental disorders represent fundamental…

Most study samples show less variability in key variables than do their source populations due most often to indirect selection into study participation associated with a wide range of personal and circumstantial characteristics. Formulas exist to correct the distortions of population-level correlations created. Formula accuracy has been tested…

Care Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRISs) have advanced and matured, a number of states and localities have undertaken evaluations to validate the systems. Such efforts stem from the desire to ensure that the system is designed and operating in the ways envisioned when the system was established. Given that a central component in a QRIS…

This report on a statewide telephone survey describes child care use in Minnesota among households with children 12 and younger. Minnesota has an estimated 908,000 children ages 12 and younger; 24 percent are ages 0 to 2, 24 percent ages 3 to 5, 30 percent ages 6 to 9 and 23 percent ages 10 to 12. Of the nearly 500,000 households with one or more…

Using a retrospective, quasiexperimental design, this study evaluates Minnesota's Challenge Incarceration Program (CIP), examining whether it has lowered recidivism and saved money. In addition to utilizing a lengthy follow-up period and multiple measures of recidivism and participation, a multistage sampling design was employed to create a…

The objectives of this study were to: (1) develop a rationale and structure for quantifying individual demands of people for vocational education, (2) demonstrate a method of quantifying these demands, and (3) develop a set of guidelines for administratores at State and local levels for determining individual demand for vocational education.…

Prior to a study to determine the degree to which vocational training is related to employability, a pilot project was conducted to test the proposed research method and determine the bias that might arise from using samples taken from the telephone directory. The selected pilot sample, 835 residences in Hennepin County, Minnesota, was drawn from…

Public opinion about public education in Minnesota was investigated through a survey of a representative sample of adults. The questions asked dealt broadly with the following areas: educational quality; teacher employment conditions; State financial support; State educational guidelines; and educational vouchers. Major findings, for the sample as…