Two participant observers evaluated the week-long camp experience of adult women in order to assess the appropriateness of participant observation research methods in the camp setting, to identify strengths and weaknesses of this method, and to develop guidelines for its use. The study was part of a larger evaluation of the 9th annual Women's Week…

The evaluation of federal programs such as the migrant education program causes a dilemma for state education agencies. The law places the prime responsibility for establishing, and accounting for, quality programs on state and local education agencies. However, no explicit directive requires that this be done in a uniform manner. A lack of…

The purpose of this research project was to develop techniques for analyzing user searches of the Syracuse University Libraries Information Retrieval Systems (SULIRS) to enable library staff to identify and test potentially high payoff modifications to the system and/or to user documentation. The first task was an exploratory analysis of recorded…

Author proposed a set of concepts and methods for the measurement of educational environments. He compared the activity-with-facility (synomorph) patterns of schools of both open-plan and traditional architecture. (Editor/RK)

Techniques are illustrated in this article for strengthening evaluative designs and methodologies relevant to educational programs that incorporate within their broad aims assisting in social problem-solving. (AJ)

A model procedure, implemented in 1976 at Thomas Nelson Community College (Virginia), for community based and continuous long-range planning is described in this report. The model involves extensive participation by all community segments and presents strategies for review, approval, and research in support of the plan. Planning components include…

This paper describes the use of the ethnographer's perspective in applying research knowledge to the improvement of educational practice. The Documentation and Technical Assistance Project (DTA) uses ethnographic methods to study problem solving in urban public schools. In the complicated culture of the urban school, social, economic and political…

Problems associated with uncoordinated proliferation of data collection procedures will not be alleviated until educational agencies and legislative bodies, at both state and federal levels, view data as a scarce resource which must be managed efficiently. Better linkages must be made between the data transfer requirements generated by the…

One of a series of instructional booklets designed to introduce adult education program planners to the basic concepts integral to and alternative strategies for conducting needs assessments, this instructional booklet deals with determining what information to collect when conducting a needs assessment. Described first is the relationship of the…

Schools and school districts are advised to keep detailed records on incidents of violence and vandalism in order to (1) plan for school safety and security; (2) plan policies and programs for better student control and the improvement of attitudes; (3) evaluate the success of efforts to reduce violence and vandalism; and (4) increase the…

Camps offer a unique opportunity to inform parents of the psychological workings of their child through information based on a large repertoire of situations. Camps can be interpreted to parents as a better way to observe, record, and report how their children: (1) reacted to "on-hand contact"; (2) accepted duties and responsibility; (3)…

A survey covered categories of budget, organization, staff resources, activities, and reporting techniques and policies; the survey revealed Research and Evaluation (R and E) offices received federal or state funding. Therefore, most retain financial independence from programs evaluated. The best placement of R and E offices in the school…

This paper provides a model to assist local program planners, administrators, and other decisionmakers in the assessment of local drug abuse conditions and problems. The model presents data on which to base everyday judgments about drug abuse, to plan for drug abuse services, and to allocate limited resources on local levels. Drug abuse indicators…

This report summarizes the findings and describes the products of a 2-part research project that examined the parameters of Washington's interlibrary loan cooperation statewide, and developed a set of computer models to be used in simulation studies of associated activities and policies. It contains a statement of the problem; an historical…

Perspectives concerning data collection in postsecondary education management and planning are considered. It is suggested that one of the dangers in data collection operations is collecting data without knowing why. It is argued that unless one knows in advance what is being measured and the purposes of measurement, data should not be collected.…