This is the sixth and final report of the National Research Council's Committee on the Performance of Military Personnel on the Joint-Service Job Performance Measurement/Enlistment Standards (JPM) Project, a project designed to develop measures of performance for entry-level military jobs so that enlistment standards could be linked to performance…

This bibliography listing references in the area of special education finance was developed by means of computerized bibliographic searches, nominations from leading special educators, and citation searches. References are first grouped into topical mini-bibliographies on the following subjects: cost analysis methodologies; special education cost…

A 23-month evaluation of the Cooperative Demonstration Program (High Technology) assessed the extent to which grant applications selected for funding presented a clear and coherent design for the projects, project designs were successfully implemented, and project costs were reasonable in relation to projected or actual outcomes. Findings were…

The effects of instructional technology on learning are determined by the extent to which hardware and software amplify the basic capabilities of an instructor. Experience indicates that rational considerations such as cost-effectiveness are not usually the primary factors in making decisions about use of technology in training. Most large…

Education in general and specific educational projects fit into the construct of the allocation of investment resources that is basic to economic theory. Two techniques of computing returns to education and education projects are benefit-cost ratios and rates of return, which both rely on measuring costs and benefits. While measuring costs is…

This two-volume compilation of 21 papers discusses issues stemming from the Welsch versus Likins suit (1974). The suit led to the 1980 Welsch-Noot consent decree requiring the State of Minnesota to reduce the overall population of mentally retarded persons residing in state institutions by nearly one-third over 6 years. The 11 papers in Volume I…

An argument based on the content fit among a college course, the American College Testing Program (ACT) Assessment tests, and students' high school course work is described to justify use of ACT scores and self-reported high school grades for placement of college freshmen in undergraduate remedial education. A utility-based approach to quantifying…

Reforms in education have raised two critical fiscal policy issues: How is education reform to be financed? and Do the dollars spent on education reform make a difference? Schools can successfully meet these challenges by practicing sound fiscal management and placing an emphasis on cost-effectiveness and accountability. In the future, a…

This guide, which is intended for new supervisors and managers to use in an independent study setting, deals with costing, balance sheets, and budgetary control. The first section, "Matters of Cost" by J. E. and J. F. Smith, deals with the following topics: profits and productivity, principles of costing, cost control and cost reduction, fixed and…

This report explores effects of a year-round schedule on pupil and teacher attendance in the Jefferson County, Colorado, School District. Information is drawn from a 1977 district study and from interviews with teachers and principals. Comparison of data on attendance before the program and after its first year found that attendance increased in…

This report on the potential of new interactive technologies for improving learning examines developments in the use of computer-based technologies, analyzes key trends in hardware and software development, evaluates the capability of technology to improve learning in many areas, and explores ways to substantially increase student access to…

The purpose of this paper is to examine what is known about the costs and cost-effectiveness of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) by presenting an appropriate cost methodology, applying it to CAI, and exploring the validity of four popular assumptions. These assumptions are: (1) that computer hardware accounts for most of the cost of delivering…

This publication includes presentations made at the Aikin-Stinnett Lecture Series and follow-up papers sponsored by the Instructional Research Laboratory at Texas A&M University. The papers in this collection focus upon the basic assumptions and conceptual bases of teacher education and the use of research in providing a foundation for…

This report discusses diverse economic issues involved in educational reforms aimed at improving economic growth. The focus is on elementary and secondary education in the southeastern United States. After a general overview of the economics of educational reform, section I discusses the issues involved in modeling and estimating the linkages…

Designed to provide instructional technologists, policy makers, and administrators with an overview of the basic principles of distance education, this booklet comprises eight chapters: (1) Introduction; (2) A Selective History; (3) Components of Distance Education Systems; (4) Organizational Options; (5) Instructional Technologists and Staffing…