This research was conducted in order to examine whether libraries are maintaining consistent and complete subject authority control and creating syndetic reference structure for popular topics. A descriptive study of 15 private liberal arts college libraries was conducted to determine whether the Library of Congress (LC) prescribed "see"…

This handbook is an effort to establish current and consistent terms, definitions, and classification codes to maintain, collect, report, and exchange comparable information about staff. This effort was coordinated by the Council of Chief State School Officers under contract to the National Center for Education Statistics. It represents the best…

The goal of the DataSpace project is to develop a computer learning environment for data analysis and statistics and associated materials for high school mathematics. DataSpace software will provide a concrete metaphor for data, along with interactive visual explanations of statistical concepts. Users will be able to change data smoothly and…

This paper describes the first phase of a study to investigate students' evaluations of computer laboratory modules in a university-level, non-majors biology course. The National Science Foundation-funded project has two primary goals: (1) to develop programmable, multifunctional Bio LabStations for data collection and analysis, lab extensions,…

Twenty/twenty (20/20) Analysis is an outcomes-based approach to identifying and serving students at the margins of education. The analysis focuses on one or more important outcomes of education and looks to the marginal students, the top fifth of achievers (80th percentile) and the lowest fifth (20th percentile). It is based on the belief that…

This report reflects the results of an evaluation of the definitions used in the annual Public Library Statistics (PLS) program, a joint federal-state information collection project, and is intended to raise specific issues for discussion among the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the Federal State Cooperative System (FSCS), and…

This paper addresses issues surrounding attempts to describe instructional practices and learning opportunities. It draws from the data and experiences of researchers associated with the Reform Up Close (RUC) Study conducted by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE) for the National Science Foundation. The paper focuses on the…

This report provides background and linkages necessary to bring state-level experiences of reporting graduation rate statistics to bear in implementing the Student Right-to-Know Act particularly regarding the reporting of student persistence and graduation rates at institutions of higher education. Section I provides: (1) an overview of the extent…

This study determined which professional periodicals were being read by elementary school classroom teachers, which sections they read, and whether or not their media specialists were instrumental in providing and promoting the periodicals. One hundred sixty teachers were selected to complete a survey questionnaire; 128 completed the survey.…

This book describes a structure for understanding and managing the process and options for gathering and analyzing data on needs. The three-phase model that forms the basis for the structure grew from both theory and practical experience in many settings. The focus is on assessing the needs of organizations rather than individuals. It is stressed…

This book, written by three women who have recently completed doctoral degrees, attempts to provide an honest, humorous, and useful guide to the realities of the doctoral dissertation process. Advice is included from students and graduates of both genders, all ages, varied ethnic groups, and many disciplines and universities in diverse parts of…

This study analyzed aspects of assistant professor promotion and tenure packets that contained varying emphases on outreach associated with a positive promotion recommendation. Fictionalized versions of actual promotion packets for 18 men and women were obtained from seven midwest universities. Packets varied by type of department and by extent…

This addendum describes the nature, rationale, and results of the second cleaning and revision of the National Longitudinal Study of 1972 (NLS-72) Postsecondary Education Transcript Files (PETS). This project, conducted for nearly 3 years, followed an initial cleaning and reduction in 1987, which came about as a reaction to the idiosyncratic…

This report describes a workshop at which Army researchers presented some results from the first phase of a two-phase Joint-Service Project. (The objective of this phase was to determine if technically adequate criterion measures can be developed that are representative of job performance.) Part I of the report presents the preliminary results of…

Educational research on the factors of student achievement has been limited by its failure to consider the multilevel or hierarchical nature of most data. This study used a nonexperimental regression-based procedure, hierarchical linear modeling (HLM), to empirically develop a predictive model of fifth-grade achievement in reading and mathematics…