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Beginning with a brief history of homeschooling in America, this paper discusses literature describing today's population of homeschoolers. Although older, the binary typology offered by Van Galen (1987, 1991) to categorize the motivations of homeschoolers is still utilized in much of the homeschooling literature. Van Galen breaks homeschoolers into two basic groups: the ideologues, who have ideological conflicts with schools, and the pedagogues, who dislike the pedagogy employed in traditional forms of education. Using Van Galen's rubric as a starting point, the paper considers existing research about the characteristics and motivations of homeschoolers. Although this extant research is quite limited, it nonetheless highlights the need for an expanded framework. To this end, the paper offers suggestion for a slightly more detailed typology, arising from the author's research of homeschooling. The paper concludes with a brief sampling of the types of knowledge and insight that homeschooling research may offer concerning the strengths, weaknesses, and future of American schooling. (Contains 90 references.) (Author)

The educational achievements of the young depend on both family and school but are much more dependent on the former than the latter. Educational policy has established an extensive set of legal and contractual obligations for schools. In contrast, the contractual obligation for families is to meet compulsory education requirements. The establishment of performance expectations or contracts between families and society may be an effective way to enhance educational outcomes. This paper investigates the need for, feasibility of, and possible content of such performance expectations by suggesting the construction of metaphorical contracts for families to provide for the education of their children. It begins by documenting the overwhelming ties between socioeconomic status (SES) and student educational results. It then looks at the research literature on what families do that improves educational results for their children (what SES reflects). Next, it considers what a comprehensive family contract that embodied these behaviors would look like. Finally, it adds greater specificity to such a family contract by asking what families can do on their own if properly informed, including low-income families; what families can do with training and support; and what gaps in the contract must be filled by other service providers. (Contains 58 footnotes.) (SM)

Major policy debates have arisen around the subject of vouchers as an alternative for financing and organizing the educational system. To a large degree, comparisons between vouchers and the traditional system of educational finance and school operations have been limited to one or two dimensions of education such as the relative impact of a particular system on achievement test scores. This paper describes a comprehensive, evaluative framework that draws upon a larger range of goals that have been posed for education in a democratic and free society. These criteria include: (1) freedom of choice; (2) productive efficiency; (3) equity; and (4) social cohesion. The framework demonstrates the importance of and tradeoffs among those four criteria in evaluating specific educational voucher plans and comparing them to other alternatives such as charter schools and the more traditional public school arrangement. The paper develops the concept of "advantage maps" for comparative purposes along with a research agenda for developing fully this approach to evaluation. (Contains 45 references.) (Author/SM)

This paper synthesizes current thought about the role of networking technologies in instruction and addresses the need for higher education to create affordable and flexible student-centered "distributed learning environments" employing networking technologies. First, relevant trends are identified in the areas of information volume, technology competency of the workforce, telecommuting, collaboration, reskilling, demographics, selectivity, government influence, and increasing demand for higher education. The current status quo is college instruction is characterized by the dominance of the lecture, little interaction, inefficiency, and the factory model. The need for change and the role of the distributed learning environment in new instructional models are emphasized. Guidelines for planning for change focus on values implicit in technology, the role of shared values, curriculum design, and computer mediated communication. The importance of institutional support is stressed in discussion of technology adoption patterns, support structure, funding, and organizational structures and relationships. Aspects of technology architecture considered include network infrastructure, content file servers, groupware infrastructure and content creation and access. The Internet's role in a distributed learning environment is also discussed. Finally, future requirements for distributed learning are suggested. Throughout the paper, sidebars provide examples of implementation at various institutions. A company profile of IBM completes the monograph. (Contains approximately 70 references.) (DB)

This paper estimates the effects of state-imposed curriculum mandates on the test scores of public-school students who took the SAT in 2001. By 1998, 14 states had mandates that high-school students should take an economics course. For these states, the proportion of public-school students taking high-school economics was around twice that of states without mandates. The mandate may be interpreted as a regulation on input use in the education sector, potentially impairing the efficiency of schools. It is hypothesized that where there is a mandate, test scores should be lower. The merit of the mandate on scores can be assessed empirically. Using microlevel data on a large sample of students across the United States, this inquiry tests whether students' academic performances are higher or lower in states where there are mandates. This test offers a direct evaluation of the efficiency of the mandate. The mandate reduces test scores by as much as 0.25 standard deviations for those students who would not otherwise have enrolled. This paper sets out the theoretical explanation from the imposition of a mandate, describes the dataset, sets out the estimation method, and reports the results. (Contains 6 tables and 24 references.) (Author/WFA)

This study profiled the pre-entry attributes, first year academic performance, and institutional experience of a 1995 freshman cohort who graduated within 6 years in a 4-year public college in a medium-sized city. A sample of 1,175 students formed the cohort for the study. Factors were found that distinguished the graduated and nongraduated. In terms of pre-entry attributes, these factors included: gender, age, high school average, entering college in the year of high school graduation. In terms of first-year academic performance, the factors included: first semester registered hours, first-year grades, remedial courses taken, and number of failed courses. Institutional experience, such as being admitted under a special program, also differed for graduates and nongraduates. The first-year academic performance was found as the major player in bachelor's degree persistence. The study also compared the graduates with those who did not graduate within 6 years, but remained enrolled. Those who were still enrolled had in common that they took their own pace toward graduation. (Contains 1 chart, 5 tables, and 13 references.) (Author/SLD)

To investigate how students' characteristics and experiences affect satisfaction, this study used regression and decision-tree analysis with the CHAID algorithm to analyze student opinion data from a sample of 1,783 college students. A data-mining approach identifies the specific aspects of students' university experience that most influence three measures of general satisfaction. The three measures have different predictors and cannot be used interchangeably. Findings show that academic experiences are influential. Faculty preparedness, in particular, which has a well-known relationship to student achievement, emerges as a principal determinant of satisfaction. Social integration and pre-enrollment opinions are also important. Campus services and facilities have limited effects, and students' demographic characteristics are not significant predictors. Decision-tree analysis reveals that social integration has more effect on the satisfaction of students who are less academically engaged. (Contains 7 tables and 29 references.) (Author/SLD)

This study addressed the relative dearth of data on student retention in distance education through archival and survey data on student retention in online courses at a large, comprehensive community college in the Northeast. The college's online program had been active for 5 years, and at the time of the study, encompassed nearly 4,000 student registrations in more than 200 online courses each year. Archival data included records for the past 3 years for "attendance" in class and class performance. A student survey was designed to be administered to students who had received an "F" or "W" (withdrawal) in an online class within the past academic year. Responses were received from 71 usable survey responses from the initial sample of 500 students. The archival and survey data provided insight into the nature of student retention in online courses at a large community college. The study also provides evidence in support of the 4-factor model of barriers to success in distance education courses proposed by M. Garland (1993). Some factors that appear to have negative impact on a student's chances for completing an online course successfully include: (1) large course load; (2) lack of experience in higher education in general; (3) lack of experience with online courses; (4) busy lives outside of school; (5) young age; and (6) lack of easy access to computers. Study findings are being used to inform practice through a comprehensive institutional pilot process. (Contains 23 references.) (SLD)

Admissions officers devote substantial resources to high school visits and other recruiting events. Economic theory indicates that the best measure of effectiveness is marginal productivity. Subjects in this study were applicants to a large, Catholic, urban university and all students who participated in recruiting programs in fall 2002. Researchers aggregated the records of 70,946 prospective students to provide data for 10,133 high schools. A regression model was used to estimate the marginal effects of four categories of recruiting activities on applications for admissions while controlling for high school characteristics. Each type of activity had positive effects. The regression model was then used to predict the marginal effects of prospective high school visits and to rank them accordingly. Certain characteristics of the high schools were positively related to applications, such as the number of applications received in the previous year. Marketing activities before senior year also had a positive effect on applications. The analysis suggests changes to the visit program that would yield an increase in applications. (Contains 2 tables and 10 references.) (Author/SLD)

This paper discusses the allocation of resources to retention efforts, and whether community college administrators should utilize a cost/benefit rationale. The author intends to provide a conceptual framework within which a broad range of choices regarding retention rates might be better understood. The author quotes Victor Fuchs in support of his arguments. According to Fuchs, the romantic view of reality assumes that resources are unlimited in relation to human wants. The monotechnic view presumes that most problems have a technological aspect, and those trained in that technology should be allowed to find solutions to the problem. In contrast with the romantic and monotechnic view, economic rationality is concerned with balancing societal costs and benefits of the many demands made upon scarce resources. Here, the social optimum is the point at which the benefit from an additional increment of education equals the cost of the resources used to attain that increment. The paper also presents the Equi-marginal Principle, which suggests that the consumer makes choices that allow "the greatest bang for the buck." This principle should and can be applied to choices within the educational sector, according to the article. (NB)

Student achievement is central to the policy debate over charter schools. This paper reviews what is currently known about charter schools' impact on student achievement. After documenting the dearth of systematic empirical studies on the topic, the paper combines the findings of existing research into an overall impact rating, weighted by the studies' methodological quality. It finds that the existing body of research reveals a mixed picture, with studies from some states suggesting a positive impact, studies from other states suggesting a negative impact, and some providing evidence of positive and negative impacts. Overall, the charter impact on student achievement appears to be mixed or very slightly positive. However, this conclusion is tempered by the fact that there are, as yet, no systematic studies of charter achievement in several states that have large numbers of charter schools. The paper concludes by offering some preliminary explanations for variations in charter performance across states and for the paucity of empirical evidence in many states. (Contains 48 references.) (Author/SM)

This paper reviews the economics of tuition tax credits (TTCs). TTCs can be described in terms of "finance" and "regulation." They allow individuals to spend money on education services and to offset at least a portion of that expenditure against their tax liability. There are few economic studies of tax credits, but they stress two questions: What is the loss/gain in revenues to the state? and Who benefits? There is some evidence on both these questions, and the evidence in the main points to the following answers: (1) state revenues fall; and (2) those who already have children in private schools are the largest group of beneficiaries. Discussion of the future for the specific federal TTC plan is highly speculative with political, economic, fiscal, and possible legal barriers that may affect future adoption of TTCs. The paper also looks at how to evaluate TTCs using a comprehensive framework. An appendix describes TTC schemes across six states. (Contains 14 references.) (RT)

This paper examines accountability in public and private schools. It discusses the considerable authority the state has to regulate all schools, whether public or private, and focuses on how state constitutions constrain the states' ability to delegate to private actors the responsibility and funding for public education without accompanying accountability measures. Best labeled "unconstitutional delegation law," this doctrine is evident in the first charter-school litigation to reach a state supreme court. Legal decisions on privatization in corrections, in the federal Section 8 public-housing vouchers programs, and in contracting out special-education services have affected the autonomy of private organizations. The paper describes the repercussions of these actions and explores their effects on accountability in three states: Arizona, Massachusetts, and Michigan. It finds that only Arizona approaches a pure market-approach to accountability. The last part of the paper reviews accountability issues in publicly funded voucher programs. The challenge for states is to navigate between too little accountability, which raises unconstitutional delegation concerns, and too much oversight, which draws attention to unreasonable regulations. In the absence of judicial precedent and empirical research, private entities cannot assume that they will be able to operate publicly funded programs without surrendering some of their autonomy. (RJM)

This study examined 12 educational outcomes for a group of undergraduate students who began their freshman year in fall 1990. Data came from: the 1990 Entering Student Survey (student characteristics, academic skills, study habits and plans); the 1990-91 Freshman Outcomes Survey (family support, study habits, faculty/staff contact, social and classroom experiences, academic plans, academic/personal growth, and school satisfaction); and the 1998 Student Information Records System (grade point average, credits, departure status, and degree obtained). Data were combined to explore relationships among pre-college characteristics, freshman year experiences, freshman year outcomes, and long-term educational outcomes, including self-reported growth and objective performance records. Researchers developed intellectual, personal, and overall growth measures from lists of specific skills self-reported by students concerning their own growth at the university. The study investigated what led to positive outcomes in the freshman year and which of the pre-college and freshman year variables were most influential in predicting longer-term outcomes assessed by the 8-year college history. Results indicated that freshman college experiences were better predictors of outcome than were pre-college characteristics. Classroom experiences, faculty relations, and peer relations were the most influential predictors of subsequent outcomes. (Contains 9 references.) (SM)

This paper discusses the legal implications of "Zelman v. Simmons-Harris," the Supreme Court ruling on education vouchers. The ruling opens the way for vouchers, as concerns the federal judiciary, but the decision did not abrogate many states' restrictive provisions regarding publicly funded voucher and tax-benefit programs. Nor did the decision prevent a state from imposing reasonable regulations on participating private schools. Some constitutional provisions in a number of states present a formidable bar to providing public funds for private-school attendance. Strong public-school interest groups can be expected to throw up roadblocks. Even where such programs emerge, there will be efforts to ensure comprehensive accountability measures for the expenditure of public money. These measures will frighten off many private schools that pride themselves on their independence from government. Furthermore, considerable uncertainty will remain regarding how vouchers will fare under state constitutional law in many states. A table that classifies states' constitutional orientation toward voucher programs is provided. Regardless of the outcome in the states, the Supreme Court's "Zelman" decision surely will stimulate new interest in school choice, vouchers, and tax credits in legislative arenas across the country. (RJM)

U.S. students now have four choices of schooling: public schooling, private-religious schooling, private-independent schooling, and home-schooling. Of these options, home-schooling is the most novel. Since legalization across the states in the last few decades, it has grown in importance and legitimacy as an alternative choice. Thus, it is now possible to investigate the motivation for home-schooling, relative to the other schooling options. Two recent large-scale datasets were used in this paper to assess the school enrollment decision: the first is the National Household Expenditure Survey (1999), and the second is microdata on test-takers of the student achievement test in 2001. Results show that, generally, families with home-schoolers have characteristics similar to those with children at other types of school, but mothers' characteristics--specifically, their employment status--have a strong influence on the decision to home-school. Plausibly, religious belief has an important influence on the schooling decision, not only for Catholic students, but also for those of other faiths. An appendix contains a table of frequencies for independent variables. (Contains 23 references and 3 tables.) (Author/RT)

This paper suggests that community colleges receive undeserved criticism as institutions that contribute to students' decline in college motivation. Rather, many college-bound youths underestimate college demands due to open-admissions policies and the ready availability of remedial courses, and fail to prepare adequately for this educational transition. High school students who believe they can make plans for college even if their academic achievement is low seem to reduce their efforts in high school. A 1992 national survey found that, while students with low grades can attend college, over 80% of college-planning students with low high school grades fail to complete any college degree 10 years later. Analyses indicate that high school grades strongly predict educational attainment, signifying whether students attain their plans, predicting plans-attainment for blacks and whites alike, and explaining much of the lower attainment and unrealized plans of disadvantaged students. High school grades have proven to be the most influential factor affecting students' failure to attain their original educational plans in open-door colleges. This paper asserts that the best way for community colleges to intervene would be to inform students about what they must do in high school to make their preparation match their educational plans. The development of linkage programs between high schools and colleges also may help improve high school students' understandings of college requirements. Contains 45 references. (AS)

This paper systematically reviews the cross-sectional research evidence on the effects of competition on educational outcomes. Competition is typically measured using either the Herfindahl Index or the enrollment rate at an alternative choice (for example, private school). Outcomes are separated into those relating to academic test scores, graduation/attainment, expenditures/efficiency, teacher quality, wages, and house prices. The sampling strategy identified over 35 empirical studies testing the effects of competition. A sizable majority of these studies report beneficial effects of competition across all outcomes, with many reporting statistically significant coefficients. The effect size of an increase of competition by one standard deviation is also reported. These effect sizes suggest positive gains from competition that are modest in scope with respect to feasible changes in levels of competition. Finally, this review notes some methodological challenges in estimating competitive pressures, as well as cautions on the validity of inference from point estimates to public policy. (Contains 58 references and 6 tables.) (Author/RT)

This paper describes the Program for Research on Private Higher Education (PROPHE), a program that seeks to build knowledge about private higher education around the world. The program focuses on discovery, analysis, and dissemination of information, as well as creation of an international base of trained researchers. The main mission of the PROPHE global network is scholarship. The program's initial topic, "The Global Growth of Private Higher Education," concentrates on identifying the scope, contours, and patterns of rapid expansion. A crucial goal is bolstering and revising the three general categories of private higher education growth and functioning developed in the literature so far: (1) cultural distinctions; (2) academic or socioeconomic advantage; and (3) demand-absorption. A recent development that merits particular attention is the surge in for-profit activity. Once it builds its knowledge base, PROPHE will turn increasingly to matters of policy. Some of the program's planned "outputs," data, publications, collaborative production, and training, are outlined. (Contains 13 references.) (SLD)

This paper explores two questions: (1) Do private schools produce greater academic achievement or attainment than public schools? and (2) Does this evidence provide guidance on the potential impact of voucher plans? Based on recent experimental evidence, it finds that Catholic elementary schools have modest effects on the mathematics achievement of poor minority students in grades 2-5 but not in grades 6-8 or among nonblack students. The evidence on elementary reading achievement shows no consistent effects. In secondary schools, the nonexperimental evidence shows no consistent effects on achievement. In contrast, the evidence on attainment is strikingly consistent, indicating that Catholic schools increase the probability of high school completion and college attendance, particularly for minorities in urban areas. However, the latter findings are subject to a caveat: Statistical corrections for selection bias may not fully eliminate bias and may even worsen it. Overall, the evidence is instructive regarding the potential impact of small-scale voucher programs, particularly those encouraging attendance in existing Catholic schools. However, the evidence is notably unhelpful in predicting the effects of large-scale voucher programs, particularly the effects of newly created private schools on outcomes or the effects of competition on public schools. (Contains 59 references.) (Author)

This report was developed in response to the conflicts that have arisen over the mission of the community college. Critics of community colleges claim that the colleges have become unfocused and lost their way in an attempt to be all things to all people, while advocates state that the colleges play a broad, but essential, educational, social, and economic role in society. The paper is intended to clarify some of the underlying assumptions and suggest a framework for analyzing the optimal set of missions for the colleges. Descriptions of the current arguments about the missions of community colleges are presented, including the collegiate or academic function, vocational preparation, economic development activities, remediation, and community service. The authors then assert that integrating several of these functions at a single institution benefits the colleges by allowing them to take advantage of possible complementarities and economies of scope. Specific advantages may include improved coordination between degree programs and customized training, cross-registration among students, and improved competitiveness. However, these functions are in conflict if they are based on insufficient resources or are not properly integrated. Each institution needs to decide how to focus its efforts within a framework of comprehensiveness. Contains 46 references. (CAK)

Previous research has found that 80 percent of all adults incarcerated for felonies either had regularly used illegal drugs or abused alcohol, been convicted of a drug or alcohol violation, were under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol at the time of their crime, committed a crime to support their habit, or exhibited some combination of these characteristics. The key to reducing crime, the prison population and the enormous associated costs is to reduce the substance abuse among offenders. The Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison (DTAP) Program in Brooklyn, New York gives every indication of doing just this with some of the most difficult offenders who have not been convicted of violent crimes. The program is open to addicts who have repeatedly sold drugs, have not been convicted of a violent crime, are willing to engage in treatment and communal living, do not have a history of violence or severe mental disorder, and are facing a mandatory prison sentence. CASA's five-year evaluation of the program reveals the following: DTAP participants have rearrest rates that are 26 percent lower and reconviction rates that are 36 percent lower two years after leaving the program than those of the matched comparison group; participants are 67 percent less likely to return to prison; DTAP graduates had rearrest rates that were 33 percent lower, re conviction rates that were 45 percent lower, and were 87 percent less likely to return to prison; and graduates are three and one-half times likelier to be employed than they were before arrest. DTAP is proposed as a promising example of what law enforcement can do to reduce the number of addicted drug offenders in America's prisons. (Contains 56 references and 3 tables.) (GCP)

This study analyzes longitudinal National Center for Education Statistics data, including individualized high school records, college entrance exams, and socioeconomic background. It looks at how admissions officers currently make decisions and trends in admissions decisions between 1979-2000. Reports findings of an Educational Testing Service poll of the American public on admissions questions. These data are applied to the nation's most competitive four-year colleges. Chapter 1, "Who Attends Selective Universities", finds that under current affirmative action policies, racial minorities and low-income students are underrepresented. Chapter 2, "Why It Matters Who Attends Selective Universities", finds that attending a selective institution provides greater likelihood of graduating, greater access to graduate schooling, and a wage premium in the labor market. Chapter 3, "Defining Merit and Fairness in College Admissions", examines how merit is defined by key audiences, concluding that a dynamic concept of merit is widely accepted as appropriate. Chapter 4, "Economic Affirmative Action", concludes that while selective colleges purport to provide preferences to low-income students, they actually do not provide systemic preference. Chapter 5, "Simulation of Alternative Admission Strategies", concludes that a system of grades and test scores would significantly reduce racial and ethnic diversity but increase income diversity. Chapter 6, "Policy Recommendations", emphasizes class rank plans, economic affirmative action, race based affirmative action, and financial aid policies. (Contains 43 endnotes and 19 tables/figures.) (SM)

One of the most contentious policy areas in the United States today is the expansion of school choice. Although many dimensions of parental choice behavior have been analyzed, perhaps the most enduring questions center on the aspects of schools parents prefer and how these preferences will affect the socioeconomic and racial composition of schools. Using Internet-based methodological tools, parental preferences (revealed through information-search patterns) were studied and compared to the standard findings in the literature, which are based largely on telephone interviews. Based on this evidence, it is suggested that unfettered choice may lead to undesirable outcomes in the distribution of students, and it may also lead to reduced pressure on schools to improve academic performance. Stratification may increase if parents with higher levels of education are more likely to exercise choice than less-educated parents and more likely to engage in search activity to gather information about their options. The task facing advocates of choice is to design a system that can produce a socially acceptable tradeoff between a more efficient school system and one that mixes together children of different races and classes. (Contains 40 references, 2 tables, and 3 figures.) (RT)

When homeschooling parents discuss public schools, they often draw on their own notions of citizenship, and each parent's view of public schools is also likely influenced by his or her larger view of government's proper role in society. This article reports on a 3-year study designed to seek a better understanding of these issues. The study explored homeschoolers' interactions with broader social institutions, especially public schools, and examined the relationship between parents' homeschooling decisions and their notions of democracy. This article draws on democratic theory to highlight the tensions between the ideals that homeschoolers espouse and the implementation of these ideals in their daily lives. The investigation brought to light several tensions reflective of larger conflicts faced by Americans. In a pluralistic society, it is difficult to arrive at educational policies acceptable to all involved or that fully meet the needs of all students and families. It is often equally difficult for parents to steadfastly match their private decisionmaking to their public vision of schooling. The article explores these and other contradictions in homeschoolers' views of public schools and their actual practices and offers some insights into how inconsistencies surface in the broader discourse surrounding education in America. (Author/WFA)

There is a powerful religious commitment among people in America; nearly 92% of the population is affiliated with a specific religion. This report presents findings from a 2-year study of the attitudes and experiences of clergy regarding substance abuse and the training they received in schools of theology or in seminaries. Too often clergy and physicians do not overlap their care, something that could help recovery and ease the pain of substance abuse clients. Prior research from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse has identified a helpful connection between spiritual and religious practices and a lower risk for substance abuse or addiction. A main finding of this study suggests that a better understanding by clergy of the disease of addiction and a better appreciation by helping professionals, especially psychiatrists and psychologists, about the power of God, religion, and spirituality holds enormous potential for the prevention and treatment of substance abuse. (Contains 1 table, 10 figures, and 124 references.) (JDM)

CASAWORKS for Families is the first national demonstration program to provide simultaneously drug and alcohol treatment; literacy, job, parenting, and social skills training; family violence prevention; and health care to help substance-abusing welfare parents recover. Its mission is to help women on welfare with substance abuse problems achieve recovery, employment, family stability, and quality parenting. In its first year, 683 women in 11 cities in 9 states were enrolled. Early results of the program showed that the proportion of women abstinent from alcohol increased by 60%, those abstinent from cocaine increased by 34%, and those abstinent from marijuana increased by more than 20%. The program holds enormous potential for reducing welfare costs and preventing substance abuse and addiction for the children of these parents. This document presents a brief overview of the program along with preliminary results and the program's costs and benefits. (Contains 4 figures and 33 references.) (JDM)

In a 3-year program, the National Center for Schools and Communities enabled nine universities (Boston College, Massachusetts; California State University, Long Beach; Clark Atlanta University, Georgia; Eastern Washington University; Howard University, District of Columbia; University of Houston, Texas; University of Utah; Washington University, Missouri; and Wayne State University, Michigan) to develop curricula and internship experiences to prepare social work and education students for collaboration in public schools. Most programs included didactic course work and a joint internship for small cohorts of 4 to 40 students. Interview and focus group data suggest that while university faculty felt the personal costs of collaboration outweighed the personal benefits, public school teachers and graduate students generally felt the exchanges were worthwhile. Two major lessons were learned: (1) establishing goals that can be operationalized in common requires sustained, focused dialogue whereby parties experience each other's special capabilities and come to understand the limits for action imposed by each other's organizational context; and (2) interorganizational collaboration is the responsibility of leaders and cannot be delegated. The paper also addresses whether comprehensive approaches will enable more children to succeed in school, whether public school principals should assume primary responsibility for service integration, and whether university preparation for work in collaboration is a good way to advance collaboration in later practice. (MDM)

Economists are aware of the importance of human capital in the process of development, whereas policy makers are only now exploring its implications, pressed by demands for more jobs and higher incomes. Recent research in the dynamics of labor markets illustrates how the results can help shape education and training policy in the United States. For nearly 2 decades, the body of research stressing the importance of human capital on growth and development has grown. Economic policy debates focus on investing human capital both as a way to encourage overall economic growth and as a way to expand opportunities for the economically disadvantaged. Studies have focused on how training acquired from employers affects the work experience of employees and other work history factors as well. Although this body of research necessarily identifies general relationships, its findings help policy makers wrestling with three policy questions: What are the effects of employer-sponsored training? Do employers invest enough in employee training? and How will the accelerating pace of technological change affect the need for employer-sponsored training and for complementary investments in education? (An appendix lists data sources. A list of 32 references is provided.) (NLA)

The claim that work-based experience improves students' academic performance was examined through a study of the academic progress of 25 high school and community college student interns employed in various health care workplaces. Data were collected from the following activities: (1) review of the literature on academic reinforcement and academic outcomes of school-to-work programs; (2) site visits to interview faculty, staff, students, and employers; (3) observation of classroom-based links to the work-based learning components. In 9 of the 25 cases examined, no evidence for any of the following claims for academic reinforcement were found: school-based knowledge is applied; school-based knowledge is explored and tested; and motivation toward school is positively affected. Twelve students experienced instances of simple application of school-based knowledge at work. Evidence of the testing and exploration of school-based knowledge was found in only three cases. Except for those students who were taking courses in clerical skills and data entry in school, the academic reinforcement functions of work experience were minimal. Overall, the interns' work was functional to the employing organization but hardly academic. (Contains 47 references. Appended is a student essay question on productivity in a hospital setting and a sample student response.) (MN)

This document focuses on four community colleges--in Ireland, Denmark, California, and Mississippi--that play central economic development roles in their communities. Each has chosen to specialize in the skills and knowledge needed by local industry and the regional economy. Such technical colleges have emerged as key regional institutions, not only filling industry's labor requirements, but also serving as sources of advice and assistance in the modernization of existing industries. Thus, in many regions, community colleges are the leading source of technological expertise, and economic development has become a core mission of the college. These colleges ally themselves with businesses and draw staff from both industry and education. The benefits of such partnerships between education and business are evident: (1) colleges receive equipment, financial support, and access to industry specific knowledge; (2) businesses gain advice and employees who are more productive; and (3) the region's economy benefits from the mobility of the graduates and the flow of information among firms. Traditional college placement services are not necessary due to close ties between faculty, employers and informal labor market information networks. At each location studied, job offers at high relative wages are plentiful. Contains 26 references. (Author/AS)

This report surveys the various applications of information technology to research in the humanities and examines challenges that need to be overcome. The document is divided into five sections. The first section provides a background on changes brought on by technology in the humanities. The second section focuses on information technology and scholarship. Topics include: electronic communication; text; data; images; sound; combined sources/multimedia/World Wide Web; retroconversion projects; original and creative works; electronic publication; and tools. A summary of computer applications in humanities research and future outlook are included at the end of this section. New developments and change are discusses in the third section. The fourth section outlines institutional changes that are necessary to enable effective technology use in humanities scholarship. Topics include: training and support; project management; research infrastructure; digital libraries and archives; information resources; regulatory issues; preservation and access; funding; and humanities support services. The fifth section makes recommendations and lists priorities for humanists, technical experts, librarians, and administrators. Appendices in the final section include acknowledgments, bibliographies, and abbreviations and acronyms. (Contains 37 references.) (AEF)

A study was conducted by New York's Broome Community College (BCC) to compare student-reported parental income with income reported by the students' parents on their 1982 tax records. Student reports of parental income were obtained from a survey administered to students entering BCC in fall 1983. The college had parents' federal income tax records on file for the 126 students from this group who applied for financial aid. Six variables were chosen as being potentially useful in explaining the accuracy of reports of parental income: age, sex, average grade in high school, education of father, occupation of father, and intended major. The sample included only one married and one black student, who were subsequently removed from the sample. Compared with similar studies on the subject, students in the BCC study were more likely to estimate their parents' income accurately: 37.3% checked the accurate income class on the entering-student survey; 29.4% underreported income; and 33.3% overreported it. Over 65% of the respondents were within $6,000 of an accurate response. Accurate responses were more likely to be given by females, students whose fathers had a low job status and/or a high school education or less, students with a B average in high school, and students enrolled in a non-transfer major. The study findings suggested that students who apply for financial aid are more accurate in estimating their parents' income than the general population of students, and that students from disadvantaged backgrounds report more accurately than students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. The most important limitation of this study is that the all-white sample is not representative of the heterogeneous student population of community colleges. (KP)

The history of unpaid work experience shows that work requirements for welfare recipients have often been proposed and attempted. The consistent trend has been to place greater emphasis on employability services. Studies of nine welfare-to-work programs providing unpaid work experience indicate that the level of participation is limited by factors related to program design, welfare dynamics, worksite capacity, and client characteristics and circumstances. Worksite surveys of attitudes toward unpaid work experience show most participants view it as better than welfare, but not as good as a real job. Three studies that isolated effects of the Community Work Experience Program suggest that unpaid work experience does not have a clear or consistent effect on employment, earnings, or welfare receipt. Other welfare-to-work programs have proven more effective in increasing employment and earnings and reducing use of welfare. Studies on cost effectiveness indicate that work experience appears to have relatively little net effect on the economic well-being of welfare recipients. For policymakers considering an expansion of unpaid work experience, major uncertainties remain about scale, both in terms of the administrative feasibility and the applicability of the experience of previous smaller programs. (Appendixes include more information on calculating costs and assessing cost effectiveness. Contains 60 references.) (YLB)