This newsletter issue provides an evaluation of child support systems and services of the 87 counties in Minnesota. No county in the state collects enough to support children, child support is often late or not paid in full, children whose parents never married are especially dependent on the child support systems, and child support services vary…

In its present form, distance education overcomes the situational (geographic and/or time) barriers to education faced by consumers because of their family and work responsibilities. Disadvantaged adults often experience additional dispositional (attitude) and cultural barriers that are not well addressed by distance programs. Making distance…

According to a 1994 survey of higher education administrators and state politicians, the following are perceived as the biggest problems facing American higher education in the next millennium: meeting increased demands at a time of decreased resources; increasing or maintaining access; using technology more efficiently; and sharing resources…

The VISIONS project, a workplace literacy program held in two manufacturing plants and a regional medical center, was conducted during an 18-month period from July 1, 1993 to December 31, 1994. During the project, staff were hired and trained, task analyses and orientation sessions were held, and tests and curricula were developed. Employees were…

The professional continuing education opportunities offered by the Museums Association of Saskatchewan (MAS), Canada to museum staff throughout Saskatchewan were evaluated. Data were collected from public records/documents, interviews with 15 MAS staff/board members, and three surveys of a select group of professional staff of Saskatchewan's…

This report presents a review and evaluation of the accountability plans in public postsecondary education as they relate to the mission and goals of postsecondary institutions. A review of current accountability activities found that existing legislation and institutional responses do not sufficiently embody the kinds of characteristics that…

This study was designed to identify barriers that local Head Start staff believe limit their ability to provide quality services, the extent to which staff believe programs experience these barriers, and the techniques or approaches programs have used to overcome these barriers. It also sought to determine how Head Start programs use Quality…

The Job Opportunities and Basic Skills (JOBS) program, a component of the 1988 Family Support Act, emphasizes education and occupational training for welfare recipients, but it has not provided sufficient corrective measures to promote work among recipients of Aid for Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). The most serious deficiency of JOBS is…

This brief describes new requirements for vocational education program improvement and evaluation mandated by the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990. Recommendations to enhance the impact of program improvement and evaluation activities are included. The first two sections discuss developing new state…

This brief report describes six 2- to 3-day specialized workshops conducted at Texas Tech University and Stephen F. Austin University campuses for 121 secondary agriscience teachers. The workshops provided teachers with instruction and materials to assist them in teaching the new 100, 200, and 300 level semester courses. Topics were as follows:…

A survey of various reform efforts was made to clarify the similarities and differences between them and efforts to integrate vocational and academic education. The survey revealed four distinct approaches to school reforms: (1) teacher professionalization; (2) curricular and teaching reform; (3) schools of choice; and (4) restructuring. According…

A study was conducted to determine adult learners' perceptions of their undergraduate evening programs and, at the same time, provide those same adult learners with an active learning research experience. Fifty-item questionnaires focusing on class scheduling, student characteristics and activity participation, quality of services offered, and…

A random nationally generalizable sample of 563 public and private nonprofit institutions offering up to 2 years of postsecondary education (response rate, 85%) was studied to determine the status of vocational program quality before and after passage of the 1990 Perkins amendments. Data on vocational program enrollments, initial changes to…

This paper presents a five-year plan for the improvement of Pennsylvania's system of services for people with mental retardation and their families. It was developed over an 18-month period by 70 people, including people with disabilities, family members, advocates, providers of service, legislative staff, and county and state government…

This document contains four papers from a symposium on organization development and change. "The Effectiveness of Total Quality Management: A Response to the Critics" (Douglas H. Smith, Ralph G. Lewis) identifies four effectiveness principles: customer satisfaction, continuous improvement, speaking with facts, and respect for people. "Fast Cycle…