This paper reports on the range of methods used by state education agencies (SEAs) to report special education information to the public and the challenges related to this reporting. The report is based on a September 2001 survey completed by state directors of special education from 34 states. First, the paper summarizes reporting requirements of…

This book is developed to enable students to think clearly and critically about the scientific process of research. The author emphasizes that the ability to think clearly about research methods, reason through complex problems, and evaluate published research are important in today's changing educational landscape. Students using this book will…

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 places vast new information burdens on state and local governments and the nonprofit and private sectors. Three classes of problems confront program and information managers implementing welfare reform: developing information infrastructure, redesigning applications to…

This Digest discusses computer assisted advisory practices currently in use in community colleges, outlining the types of data collected and how they are used, including the use of tracking to plan interventions for at-risk students. Enhanced computer technology has improved the effectiveness of academic advising by enabling more thorough and…

This paper presents guidelines and tools for action research in the school library which will help the librarian justify expenditures and personnel and evaluate and plan services. It shows how statistics can be turned into meaningful knowledge about what is currently being done in the library, how well it is being done, whether it should be done,…

This document contains the revisions to the 5-8 Mathematics curriculum produced for Manitoba (Canada) teachers. It contains an introduction and seven content sections: Problem Solving, Algebra, Data Management, Geometry, Measurement, Number Concepts, and Number Operations. The introduction includes discussion of: rationale, goals, big ideas…

This technical report provides an overview and profile of the provision of educational supports and accommodations to students with disabilities in postsecondary programs across the United States. It is based on an analysis of a national survey conducted by the National Center for the Study of Postsecondary Educational Supports at the University…

This paper is an introduction to a series of reports intended to assist postsecondary institutions in developing and maintaining high quality special services for students who are deaf and those who are hard of hearing. A brief review of the history of deaf students in the United States from 1813 to the present precedes data on present college…

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 guide is designed to assist state and local consortia with their evaluation of Tech Prep education programs and with their reporting of Tech Prep program and student outcomes data to meet the accountability requirements of the Perkins Act of 1998. Intended for Tech Prep stakeholders in secondary schools and two-year colleges, the guide also…

This report identifies data elements and dissemination needs of District of Columbia (DC) educators, citizens, and public servants regarding elementary, secondary, higher, and adult education, presenting findings on the availability, dissemination, and evaluation of data systems in state and local school districts considered to have effective…

The purpose of this paper is to promote and improve needs assessment in distance education through the exploration of eight questions: (1) what is a needs assessment?; (2) how are needs assessments related to successful distance education?; (3) where have needs assessments been used in distance education?; (4) which approach to needs assessment…

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…

This report details the activities and accomplishments of a 4-year federally supported project concerned with: (1) validating a new strategy designed to promote the social relationships among young children with and without disabilities; (2) creating a training manual for use by teachers to promote acceptance of young children with disabilities;…

This paper reports findings from a series of focus groups with seven parents, six middle school girls, and four elementary school teachers in a high poverty urban neighborhood. The study began with the purpose of identifying the characteristics of exemplary teachers in low-income urban schools. As the research continued, it became apparent that…