This report discusses research related to the educational potential of 3-2-1 CONTACT, a PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) series on science and technology, which was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for a primary target audience of 8- to 12-year-olds in both home and school settings. Conducted over a 6-year period (1977-83), this…

In 1984-85, a study was conducted to gather information about current professional development policies in New Jersey's county colleges, professional development activities and opportunities, the effectiveness of these activities, variations among campuses and disciplines, and incentives for participation. The study involved surveys of the…

This report shows that there are many ways to confirm the accuracy, reliability, and validity of student self-reports. Examples from higher education and from public opinion polls and general surveys demonstrate some of the common sources of measurement errors and errors of substance. Part 1 of the report summarizes a few highlights from the…

This study reports a preliminary investigation into the relationship of different subsets of student attitudes toward economics. A 49-item attitude form was developed with six subscales representing distinct aspects of attitudes toward economics: (1) satisfaction with current grasp of economics; (2) capability for understanding economics; (3)…

The current success and acceptability of the Design for School Excellence (DSE) in the Cincinnati (Ohio) Public Schools is due largely to the seriousness in which the Board of Education and the Superintendent communicated with school employees and the entire community in planning the final outcome of this program. From the original suggestion of a…

This guidebook presents a process to elicit and organize information about school district practices, proposes standards to judge the effectiveness of those practices, and provides a method for determining desired improvements. Following the introduction, section 2 contains a distillation of the research findings on school effectiveness along with…

Undergraduate project work at the University of Bath, England, was investigated through a survey of students and project supervisors. The investigation as conducted for each of two academic years with two different respondent groups, and the first year questionnaire and a revised second-year version are appended. To facilitate reference to the…

The extent to which value orientations of professional students differ by occupational groups and by the socializing effects of professional schools on students was assessed. Approximately 1,150 students in nine major doctoral-granting universities participated. Based on work by Bengtson (1975), a humanism/materialism score was constructed for…

This set of materials on staff development in research libraries, assembled by the Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), focuses on programs and activities designed to provide general skills training related to the work performed in a research library. Contents of the set include: (1)…

This report presents data and recommendations of a project to analyze instructional services provided by public schools to California apprenticeship programs. Issues considered are instructional materials, instructional facilities, credit for apprentice classes, registration and interdistrict permits, isolated apprentices, financial support,…

A study examined the relationship of attitudes of vocational student teachers to their plans to teach. Also investigated during the study was an alternative method of scoring the Purdue Student-Teacher Opinionnaire. (The Purdue Student-Teacher Opinionnaire is a 60-item questionnaire that yields factor scores pertaining to the following areas:…

A statewide telephone survey of over 1,500 household heads in 58 Massachusetts cities and towns, conducted soon after the passage of Proposition 2 1/2 in November 1980, sought to discover why voters favored the law and what public services they wanted. Proposition 2 1/2 not only restricted Massachusetts property taxes but also reduced automobile…

The career training offered to women in school administration by the American Association of School Administrators (AASA) in 1977 decreased the influence of external barriers on the participants' upward career mobility. Along with 31 non-trainees who served as a comparison group, all 75 AASA trainees responded in 1981 to a questionnaire collecting…

A study was made of language attitudes of suburban middle class high school students with special reference to French, German, Spanish, and Latin. Of the 621 subjects chosen for the study, 82 had never had any foreign language learning experience. Two types of questionnaires were given, one to those who had studied foreign language and the other…

The development, design, and results of a survey of Florida State University alumni who received their degrees during 1980-1981 are examined. The questionnaire was mailed to 4,588 students who received undergraduate or graduate degrees, and 1,533 responses were obtained. Attention was directed to whether students had achieved personal, academic,…