The Institute of Family Studies has completed its fourth year of operation, and government and public demand for input from the Institute is growing beyond its capacity. This report focuses on current operating difficulties as well as on the structure and activities of the Institute. The first section, entitled "Structure and…

This publication was prepared to help college students better understand the significance of the 1980 census. It consists of four parts. Part I discusses the history of U.S. census taking, introduces the Census Bureau as an organization, and examines the planning and administration of the decennial census. Part II provides an overview of census…

In the late 1970s, the Department of Defense requested that the reference population for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) be changed and updated to reflect the current youth population. Analyses of new data collected in 1980 indicated that speeded subtest scores of the new sample were atypically low and that the sample might…

Information available on rural education remains startlingly inadequate--partly because of the great diversity of rural areas, because agencies responsible for data collection disagree on the definition of small/rural schools, and because large metropolitan schools have received far more than their share of attention, research, and financial…

Latent trait model calibration procedures were used on data obtained from a group testing program. The one-parameter model of Wright and Panchapakesan and the three-parameter logistic model of Wingersky, Wood, and Lord were selected for comparison. These models and their corresponding estimation procedures were compared, using actual and simulated…

Based upon an occupational rating instrument entitled the Occupational Analysis Inventory (OAI), this study sought to produce a more stable and interpretable set of OAI job analysis factors. The study was designed (1) to obtain OAI ratings on an additional 600 jobs and thus enlarge the sample to 1,414 jobs and (2) to derive a meaningful set of…

Tables of demographic information about Ghana are presented, including size of population and estimates of fertility and mortality. The data were obtained primarily from population censuses in 1960 and 1970, a 1960 post-enumeration survey, and a 1971 supplementary enquiry. Because Ghana's vital registration system is incomplete, the data are not…

One of seven guides developed to assist vocational-technical institutions in conducting a systemized approach to local evaluation, this instructor perceptions guide presents a suggested methodology for conducting a needs assessment with institutional instructors. The matrix included in the guide depicts the factors and indicators assessed by the…

One of seven guides developed to assist vocational-technical institutions in conducting a systemized approach to local evaluation, this institutional, program, and staff development guide provides a suggested method to organize and implement improvement activities designed to fulfill those institutional, individual, and program needs identified…

This planning conference was one in a series of such conferences aimed at providing continuous guidance for the development of the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS) a study designed to discover what happens to young adults after they leave high school, and to relate this information to earlier educational…

As an aid for administrators in state and local education agencies, community colleges, and noneducational service agencies, this handbook tells how to gather community information needed for educational planning and decision-making. Information sources, terminology, and definitions are included, as well as guidelines for the use of such data. The…

To assess the effects of school traits on achievement, researchers reanalyzed the data used in "Public and Private Schools" (Coleman et al.) at the school level rather than the individual level. The data for the Coleman report and the present reanalysis are drawn from the "High School and Beyond" study, a 1980 national survey…

This handbook is designed to help state and local vocational education evaluators and persons using evaluation results by presenting strategies and procedures for improved use of vocational education evaluation results. It is divided into five sections, followed by a glossary and annotated bibliographies. Chapter 1 contains an overview of the…

Ways that data can be misused in establishing accountability of public higher education are described along with approaches to help alleviate the potential adversary relationships between postsecondary leaders and state agency personnel. It is suggested that scholars fear a future in which educational decisions may be made according to numbers or…

The relationship between the state legislature and governance in higher education is considered. Among the significant issues facing legislators and educators is the demand for comparable data, which can be useful for decision-making or can be misused to fit the views or objectives of a particular group. Issues about which there are many questions…