Discusses the importance of integrating technology into elementary and secondary school classrooms and considers funding sources. Highlights include costs for technology integration, including hardware, software, professional development, and infrastructure; characteristics of schools that obtain grants; and ideas for cutting costs to reduce the…

Provides guidance to academic librarians for making cost-effective and appropriate purchase and networking decisions for electronic bibliographic database products. Topics include user needs, user and program demographics, academic computing and network support, delivery options, and considerations for the future. (Author/LRW)

A survey of curriculum directors at 51 pharmacy schools investigated attitudes and discrepancies concerning the current and ideal emphasis placed on 33 topics, as well as barriers to curriculum change. A move toward primary and outpatient care and better relationships and communication between pharmacists and patients were evident in the…

Minority students' failure is costly, resulting in increases in remedial instruction and numbers of students held back or tracked in low-ability classes. Equitable opportunities will be ensured by creating equitable structures; selecting a diverse, committed faculty; valuing all students; providing equitable funding; and garnering stakeholder…

In recent years, state legislatures, state education departments, and advocacy groups in more than thirty states have sponsored education adequacy studies, which aim to determine objectively the amount of funding needed to provide all students with a meaningful opportunity for an adequate education. Based on a detailed analysis of judicial and…

It is now almost ten years since the Salamanca Conference on Special Needs Education endorsed the idea of inclusive education. Arguably the most significant international document that has ever appeared in the special needs field, the Salamanca Statement argues that regular schools with an inclusive orientation are "the most effective means…

This report provides state policymakers with a review of current issues and challenges in the professional development of teachers. The changing role of states in professional development is examined, and it is argued that while state involvement in professional development programs has increased, inadequate attention is being paid to the quality…

Two booklets, "A Blueprint for Iowa's Young: Implementation Directions for the Framework Paper," and "Investing in Families, Prevention and School Readiness: Working Draft of a Framework Paper" present a framework for creation of a blueprint for implementation and management of community investment initiatives. The framework is…

To help libraries and other holdings institutions better incorporate preservation concerns in construction, renovation, and routine maintenance, various techniques are presented that allow preservation concerns to be integrated. The following topics are considered: (1) site selection; (2) design of the building envelope; (3) the library interior;…

The Homestead Campus of Miami-Dade Community College, in Florida, serves a sparsely populated area with a culturally diverse population including migrant farm workers, prison inmates, and U.S. Air Force personnel. To increase access to college services, the campus focused on implementing a computer-based distance education program as its primary…

Recent trends in writing skill assessment suggest a movement toward the use of free-response writing tasks and away from the traditional multiple-choice test. A number of national examinations, including major college admissions tests, have included free-response components. Most of the arguments in support of this trend relate to the hypothesized…

These five papers are from a symposium facilitated by Ronald L. Jacobs on financial analysis of human resource development (HRD) at the 1995 Academy of Human Resource Development conference. "Return on Investment--Beyond the Four Levels!" (Jack J. Phillips) offers a modification of the Kirkpatrick model of evaluation for HRD in…

This paper assesses the impact of business practices on higher education institutional research activities. Institutions who have been implementing total quality management practices are gradually adopting a new method, process redesign, which focuses more on how to achieve improvements using less costly research methods and procedures. This study…

This paper examines the effectiveness of social services provided to Mexican immigrants in rural California. In addition, the paper offers recommendations for service delivery models and for rethinking the objectives of immigrant social policy. At the most basic level, current social program planning and associated analyses of policy options fail…

Recent studies of the effectiveness of the following types of job training programs were reviewed: mainstream job training (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act and Job Training Partnership Act programs); welfare-to-work; experimental; job training for specific population groups; and specific services. Special attention was paid to the…