A director of food services in an Indiana district analyzed costs of centralized versus decentralized food service. She discovered that preparing food at satellite schools, despite problems with inadequate equipment and outdated facilities, was more cost-effective. It is important for each district to analyze its own data and decide which system…

The emergence of and relationship between two notions in personnel evaluation, merit and worth, are traced. How worth should be evaluated, and whether teacher evaluation is worth what it costs are discussed. Limitations of current approaches to teacher evaluation are reviewed, and the potential of a duties-based approach is noted. (SLD)

Describes how job analysis was used to create a job-specific skills assessment, how the skills assessment is used to determine the appropriateness of a candidate's skills and work style, and how the skills assessment informs an applicant about job tasks and expectations. (JOW)

Combines institutional economics with aspects of contract law and organization theory to identify and explicate the key differences distinguishing three generic forms of economic organization: market, hybrid, and hierarchy. These generic forms are distinguished by different coordinating and control mechanisms and by different abilities to adapt to…

Six small Arkansas school districts consolidated to improve the quality of education and to give citizens more value for their taxes. Citizens in all six communities approved construction under the same roof of a new elementary school and a new high school. Students' tests scores have improved, the dropout rate has declined, and more graduates are…

A Louisiana school district has cut equipment repair costs by 50 percent and reduced the repair time for most damaged equipment by offering part-time supplemental employment to school staff. (MLF)

Evaluated outcomes and costs of six methods for motivating therapists to meet service delivery goals at community mental health center for children and adolescent over five-year period. Four incentive interventions generated more cost savings than they required in monetary outlays. Most cost beneficial were bonus plans. (Author/NB)

Advocates composting as a valuable alternative to the landfill for waste management. As much as two-thirds of garbage can be composted, and the process has become more cost effective. Some challenges to composting are producing a compost product that will sell and dealing with the odor created by the process. (KS)

The tradition of negotiating indirect costs in grants should be abandoned, and research administrators should instead offer different levels of service depending on what the sponsor wants to spend. Three levels of overhead rate are suggested (super, regular, and economy) and their corresponding levels of service are defined. (MSE)

A full range of teleconferencing technology is available and affordable. However, fixed and satellite transmission costs can be high, equipment can break down, and current training programs may need overhauling to be effective in a video format. (SK)

Considers role patient age plays in cost-effectiveness analysis. Quantifies magnitude of age bias and describes means to modify it. Present value analysis (discounting) is demonstrated to markedly attenuate effect of patient age on cost-effectiveness analysis. Explains how, as discount rate grows, difference in potential "life-years" between old…

Argues that America could accept many more refugees at no cost to the taxpayer if the following reforms were implemented: (1) eliminate distinctions between political and economic refugees; (2) allow immigration from newly freed communist countries; and (3) replace federal resettlement grant programs with temporary low-interest guaranteed loans.…

Turning off all the interior and exterior lighting when school buildings are closed saves money. In a small Illinois school district, nearly $14,000 were saved in electrical expenditures for six buildings. Another Illinois district currently has 19 of its 32 buildings blacked out at night and saves over $150,000 annually. Vandalism and loitering…

Subsidized employment had substantial and long-lived effects on earnings and welfare benefits in a study of more than 9,000 welfare recipients 3 years after program entry. Although not always cost effective for taxpayers, subsidized employment had positive net benefits for participants and society. (SK)

After compulsory schooling, nearly two-thirds of Swiss youth undertake apprenticeships. Although it has been an efficient and effective system, young people are losing interest and businesses are questioning the time and costs involved in changing economic conditions. (SK)