Issues in collecting data on the classroom performance of teachers are discussed, with a focus on written descriptions of teacher behavior in contrast with videotaped observations. The central issue in this comparison is the comparability of the information when it is observed live and when it is simply recorded on videotape. The fundamental…

The educational and employment opportunities available to noncollege-bound youths in Germany and the United States were compared. The analysis focused on the following: the future of youth and work, the transition from school to career, apprenticeship, academic education, and vocational education. The existing U.S. apprenticeship system, in which…

This study compared techniques for teaching collaborative writing to English majors in Taiwan, focusing on the effectiveness of computer-mediated (CM) vs. face-to-face (FF) peer response sessions, measured by amount of speech produced by students and the level of participation in discussion. Subjects were 17 university sophomores in a composition…

Through international comparisons, countries may come to recognize weaknesses in their own systems while identifying strengths that might otherwise be overlooked. The 36 indicators included are the product of an ongoing process of conceptual development and data collection and represent the consensus of professional thinking on how to measure the…

Forty-one small liberal arts colleges were visited during the 1997-98 school year in order to talk to key information technology staff and to see computing facilities. A survey containing 15 factual and 10 open-ended questions was used to gather information. This paper presents findings in the following areas and comparison with results of a…

In spring 1998, 1,020 seventh-grade students were surveyed as one component of a statewide evaluation of Arizona's school-to-work system designed by the Morrison Institute for Public Policy. This second survey measured attitudes toward and participation in career activities. Results were compared to baseline data collected from over 2,000…

This paper presents the results of an experiment using videoconferencing in a distance graduate course in the Computer Science Department at the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). The purpose of the experiment was to test two videoconference technologies that are widely used on the Internet, Cu-SeeMe and Real technology, and to assess…

The Maryland Community Colleges Technology Council conducted a survey of all 18 community colleges in Maryland during the spring of 1998 to determine the number and salaries of full-time staff supporting campus information technologies. Collectively, the colleges had 377 full-time positions authorized, with 305 positions filled. The organization…

In 1992, in response to legislative mandate, Prince George's Community College (PGCC) (Maryland) conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the its financial plan. Specifically, the evaluation focused on cost containment measures used to maintain low tuition and moderate future increases in student charges; cost per student of each academic…

Data analyzed in this study are drawn from varied sources including documents provided by governments in the context of the World Bank's operational activity. The data on a basic set of indicators were assembled for a core of 11 Asian countries (Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Sri…

This report updates information on trends in the participation of Hispanics, American Indians, Asian Americans, and African Americans in colleges and universities. Included are data concerning high school completion rates, college participation rates, undergraduate and graduate enrollments, and degree completion. Because the Hispanic population is…

In 1991, a study was conducted of semester-to-semester persistence patterns at Rancho Santiago College (RSC). The study involved tracking the attendance patterns of all RSC students entering as new students in fall 1983 and each subsequent fall until 1990; and comparing the persistence rates of matriculated and non-matriculated students in the…

During spring 1991, a study was conducted at San Diego City College (SDCC) in California to explore the various factors which motivate students to drop out, propose remediation strategies based on the research findings, and suggest further studies to identify and analyze problem areas more explicitly. To examine students' reasons for dropping out,…

Following an accreditation site visit which determined that the part-time faculty at Pima Community College (PCC) accounted for 80% of the total faculty on a headcount basis, a study was conducted comparing the characteristics of full- and part-time faculty, and, in particular of full- and part-time science faculty. In addition, student grades…

This documents reviews books, general collected works, reports, and journal articles published since 1975 on research about selected aspects of instructional materials and their relationship to teaching and learning and educational decision-making in the context of curriculum reform in Australian education. The introductory review has two main…