The recent revolution in information technology (IT) has significantly challenged society's perception and thinking about the world in which we live. Because of its many advantages, distance learning has been identified by educators, scholars, academicians, and researchers as one of the most effective ways to improve the quality of learning. This…

Implementation of information systems has lagged in many areas of clinical healthcare for a variety of reasons. Economics, data complexity and resistance are among the often quoted roadblocks. Research suggests that physicians play a major part in the adoption, use and diffusion of information technology (IT) in clinical settings. There are also…

Although science, technology, society and environment (STSE) education has gained considerable force in the past few years, it has made fewer strides in practice. We suggest that "science" teacher identity plays a role in the adoption of STSE perspectives. Simply put, issues-based STSE education challenges traditional images of a science…

According to a January 2007 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 55 percent of teens (ages 12 to 17) report having created a personal profile online, and an equal number regularly use social networking sites such as MySpace or Facebook. Of those, 91 percent use the sites to stay in touch with friends they see frequently. With all…

Designed to provide a basis for sound child welfare policy decisions, this book presents current state and national data, as well as data from many cities and counties, on child maltreatment. The six chapters in the book present statistics on: (1) child abuse and neglect, including child abuse fatalities; (2) out-of-home care; (3) adoption; (4)…

This manual is provided to help Wisconsin counties that participate in state-funded public library systems fulfill their statutory obligations to provide library service to their residents. It suggests a range of alternatives, provides a broad outline of planning considerations, and describes service environments and possible responses to those…

This practicum sought to address the need for increased opportunities for prospective adoptive parents to gain introductory knowledge regarding adoption issues and processes in a rural state in the northeastern United States. A multimedia educational unit containing a 45-minute videotaped presentation and various written materials were developed…

This book examines the development of ideas in education and comparable institutions, how to encourage their articulation, how to muster the cooperation necessary to turn them into formal blueprints, and how to secure whatever support is needed to see them materialize as projects serving the interests of the originators and their institutions. It…

This document begins with an annotated outline of Public Law 96-272, the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980, which encourages states to prevent unnecessary removal of children from their homes and to reunify foster children with their families. The document discusses reasons for the law's enactment, the law's provisions, its…

This paper explores the roots of the concept of mutual adaptation in the literature of cognitive psychology, anthropology, biology, organizational behavior, and policy analysis. It is said that while educational researchers use the concept, their neglect of the literature on it is due, in part, to contradictory definitions of mutual adaptation as…

With marriage laws in a state of flux, it is difficult to give unqualified answers to many of the serious and important questions people ask about law and marriage. To a great extent, each state is sovereign in the laws affecting marriage. Courts are playing an active role in defining and changing the legal consequences of marriage and other…

The study identified 81 families who adopted children with mental retardation or at risk for mental retardation, and compared them with 61 matched families with similar birth children. For birth families, the initial diagnosis was a time of crisis, with high depression scores, while scores at follow-up (an average of 5.3 years later) indicated no…

This report is based on discussions and papers circulated at a seminar on barriers to innovation in primary schools. Issues that relate to computers and the teacher are discussed in the first section, including ownership of the technology and models and strategies for inservice teacher education. Focusing on issues pertaining to computers and the…

Substantial emphasis has been placed on Florida Extension faculty evaluating their educational programs for impact and the utilization of these data for program accountability, yet little is known of the extent to which the faculty have accepted this responsibility. In order to assess the stage of adoption of impact evaluation as a practice, and…

This technical report describes an in-depth study of the implementation of computers in a comprehensive school which had recently purchased 17 microcomputers. The study investigated the different factors that influenced the introduction of computers into the school at the teacher's level, the departmental level, and the school level. Analyses of…