The document describes the Changes Project, a participatory action research project conducted by adult learners at five adult literacy and education programs in Western Massachusetts. It is a 3-year project aimed at examining the impact of welfare reform, immigration reform, and the changing workplace on adult learners. The Changes Project is…

This paper proposes an automated, third party World Wide Web (WWW)-based evaluation service (i.e., an online questionnaire) that focuses on usability issues of WWW-based courseware and can be used by any WWW course instructor/student. Requirements related to the usability of educational systems are summarized, including the learning environment,…

The National Household Education Survey (NHES) is a telephone interview survey that has been conducted in the spring of 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, and 1999. The 1999 NHES was a compilation of survey items from previous years that included three interviews, resulting in three data files. The first is the Parent Interview, in which data were collected…

This report presents data from a 2001 telephone survey of registered voters that examined community attitudes and expectations regarding public education in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg public school system (CMS). Respondents were committed to improving public schools and willing to increase taxes to achieve that goal. They expressed ambivalence…

This paper extends the previously reported findings of the Starting School Research Project in Australia as to what various stakeholders see as important in children's transition to school; the current study considers responses from parents, preschool educators, and school teachers to 20 statements summarizing beliefs and expectations about…

This report discusses the outcomes of a study that used cluster analysis to identify groups/clusters of children (n=158) with severe emotional disturbances receiving services at a rural, mental health center in Southeastern Ohio. Extensive data were gathered at intake that included information regarding child and family characteristics and the…

Educational researchers have employed various self-efficacy instruments in a wide spectrum of disciplines and academic settings. However, self-efficacy measures specific to the online environment have not been developed yet. This paper provides a brief history of the online environment and discusses the development and validation of an instrument…

The University of Memphis (Tennessee) Libraries conducted a library user survey of undergraduate students in the fall of 1999. The survey was designed to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of current library resources and services, to ascertain usage patterns and user satisfaction with resources and services, and to identify future needs of…

The purpose of the California State Library-sponsored project, InFoPeople, is to enhance access to information resources by providing points of public access to the Internet in public libraries throughout the state of California. This Stage 1 report represents an initial set of findings and issues related to the InFoPeople project and provides the…

As part of Johnson County Community College's (JCCC) enrollment management efforts, a questionnaire was designed to gather information about why applicants do not enroll at the college. Survey instruments were mailed to 1,129 potential students in December 1996, resulting in 218 completed surveys. Results are presented for the following areas: (1)…

In 1997, the Detroit Public Schools Board of Education established an agreement with Sylvan Learning Systems, Inc. to enable Sylvan to provide supplementary reading instruction to selected students in 10 elementary, middle, and high schools. An evaluation was conducted to determine the extent to which Sylvan met its goals. Data indicate that…

This SPEC (Systems and Procedures Exchange Center) Kit presents the results of a survey of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries designed to examine the systems research libraries use to authenticate and authorize the users of their online networked information resources. A total of 52 of 121 ARL member libraries responded to…

This report presents an analysis of the statistics concerning the status of education for students with special needs in member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Special needs students are defined as those who have disabilities with clear biological causes, or who are experiencing learning difficulties, or who…

The Association of Research Libraries (ARL), in partnership with Geographic Information System (GIS) vendors and foundations launched the GIS Literacy Project in 1992. This SPEC Kit and Flyer provide results from a survey conducted to examine how, in the years since the GIS Literacy Project began, ARL libraries have organized their delivery of…

This study, sponsored by the U.S. National Commission on Libraries and Information Science, sought to: (1) provide longitudinal data regarding the percentage of public libraries connected to the Internet; (2) provide longitudinal data regarding the percentage of public libraries that provide graphical public access Internet services; (3) provide…