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Investigated with a random sample of classes for each of five categories of exceptionality--educable mentally retarded, trainable mentally retarded, socially and emotionally disturbed, brain injured, and physically handicapped--were the costs of special education in Pennsylvania elementary and secondary schools in relation to its quality. Data were analyzed for four major study components: (1) inputs (such as instructional setting), (2) outputs (student achievement and social competence), (3) costs, and (4) the relationships among inputs, outputs, and costs. Results indicated that special education pupils showed significant progress in basic skills and social maturity in the 1975-76 school year, that social maturity and achievement increases with chronological age, that the quality of special education instruction and programs is generally good, that costs of special education vary considerably within each category of exceptionality, that costs of special education did not consistently correlate with quality of instructional programs, and that costs of special education did not consistently correlate with achievement gains, but some relationship was discernible. (Findings are presented in 15 figures and 30 tables which make up the bulk of the document.) (Author/IM)

This study examines the role of the 14 colleges participating in postsecondary programs in eight Pennsylvania correctional institutions, to assess the quality of instruction and educational services, and to determine the attitudes of the offenders towards the college program. Data used in the evaluation was collected by questionnaires administered to the offenders and to deans of continuing education of each of the colleges participating at the eight correctional institutions. The results section is designed to reflect outcomes as they relate to the specific evaluation objectives. The responses of the deans are summarized in narrative form. The results of the offenders' responses are also summarized and grouped by the three subsections of perceptions of instructors, perceptions of services, and perceptions of values and attitudes. Over one-half of the report consists of appendixes containing the evaluation questionnaires and the individual institution responses. (WL)

The financial condition of independent higher education in Pennsylvania is examined based on data provided by 62 independent colleges and universities. Results of the study indicate: (1) Although the absolute enrollment in the independent sector of higher education continued to increase during the 10-year period, 1963-72, the independent sector's share of enrollment declined 13.9 percent. (2) The productivity of independent higher education institutions is shown by their degree output, which was 47.5 percent of the state total in 1972. (3) As a group the Commission for Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU) institutions reported an operating deficit of $4.6 million in 1969-70 but a $5.5-million surplus in 1971-72, a difference of +$10.1 million. (4) Of the six major operating accounts, only the educational and general account showed significant improvement, 1969-72. (5) Additions to plant during 1969-72 by CICU institutions amounted to $330.9 million. (6) The average expenditure per fulltime equivalent student increased from $3,764 in 1969-70 to $4,057 in 1971-72. (7) The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency reported an increase in the number of scholarships awarded to students attending CICU institutions from 20,783 to 23,093, 1969-72, an increase of 11.1 percent. (8) The book value of endowment funds of CICU institutions increased from $558.2 million to $744.7 million, 1969-72. (9) The liquid net worth of CICU institutions increased, 1969-72, from $311.5 million to $335.5. (Author/MJM)

This is the third study conducted to analyze the transfer pattern of community college students in Pennsylvania. Information sources were student followup data from the community colleges and enrollment data of all higher education institutions. The followup data showed that the trend from 1970 through 1973 had been a rather consistent distribution of transfers among the various segments. In 1973, the percentages of transfers to the segments were: out-of-state, 12; state-owned, 25; state related, 37; state-aided, 6; private, 20. The most significant change was a doubling of the number of students transferring to the state-aided segment over the 4-year span. Of the 3,112 students transferring to state-owned or state-related schools, 1,242 transferred to state-owned institutions, and 1,870 transferred to state-related universities. State-related universities not only absorbed the largest number of community college transfers but also accepted a larger percentage as juniors. The study data are provided in 43 tables. (DB)

Approximately 250 students in grades 1-6 of two elementary schools, one utilizing an open classroom instructional program and the other a traditional instructional program, comprised the sample in this first year of a planned 2-year study. The study focuses on the assessment of the comparative effects of the two instructional programs on three student variables: (1) self-concept, (2) attitude toward school, and (3) academic achievement. Pretests on these variables were administered in May and June of 1972; posttests were administered in May and June of 1973. Analysis of covariance was used to analyze this data. In addition, data related to teacher attitudes and classroom environment and practices was collected and analyzed. The first-year results indicate that there were no statistically significant differences between the two programs in relation to the three major student variables, although questionnaires administered to the parents and pupils of the open classroom school indicated an improved attitude toward school. (Author)

Reported is a study of special education teacher supply and demand trends at the elementary and secondary levels for Pennsylvania. The supply and demand model of the study is explained including components such as entry rate of graduates and annual withdrawal of teachers. Twenty-six tables provide statistics on topics such as: number of special education pupils being served by Pennsylvania schools, number of special education teachers, prevalency rates by handicapping condition, average number of pupils per teacher by special education categories, hiring demand for special education teachers, age range of special education teachers by category, special education teacher supply from Pennsylvania teacher preparing institutions, teacher withdrawal rates, and projected hiring demand for special education teachers by category to 1983. Among findings of the study given are that: (1) Pennsylvania currently produces about twice as many special education teachers annually as the public schools can hire with the surplus expected to increase until 1980; (2) about 2,000 teachers are working in special education assignments without full certification (particularly in the gifted area); and (3) the proportion of women in special education is greater than in regular teaching. Appended is a table of resident live births in Pennsylvania from 1916 to 1973 with projections to 1978. (DB)

The Pennsylvania State Department of Education developed an automated system in 1970 to facilitate meeting report requirements to the United States Office of Education. This system provides for computer processing of such information as labor market needs in planning vocational programs, standards for these programs, graduate followup, demographic profiles of pupils and teachers, and utilization of facilities. The starting point of the system, the manpower conversion equation, indicates underdeveloped manpower resources as input into employment policies, manpower requirements, labor supply, and manpower development sources. The system operation calls for meeting the information needs of various management functions concerning the vocational education process and its products. The system programs and procedures discussed in this document were established as a backup facility for the Pennsylvania State Department of Education's present outside contractor. (Author/MF)

This document analyzes data on student transfers from Pennsylvania community colleges. The major sources of data are community college follow-up reports on graduates (3,132 transfers reported); the statistical reports of enrollments by receiving institutions (4,001 transfers reported); and the results of a Pennsylvania Association of Counselors for Transfer (PACT) follow-up survey of community college graduate transfers. The PACT survey analyzes data received from the 1,184 respondents by age, program, and receiving institution. Seven hundred forty were under 23; 271 were between the ages of 23 and 30; and 113 were over 30. The program areas most frequently chosen were education (282), business and management (259), and social services (154). Data from the PACT survey also reveals that 346, or 29 percent of the respondents, had some difficulty in the transfer process. In addition, the 369 transfers to Penn State Capitol Campus in 1974 are analyzed to determine how many students have a lapse of time between community college graduation and enrollment at a four-year institution. Data are organized into tabular form throughout, and 12 comprehensive charts are appended. (NHM)

This study was a 2-year comparison of the effects of open classroom versus traditional instruction on children's self-concept, attitudes toward school and achievement of basic skills. The 250 participants were students in grades 1-6 of two elementary schools -- one utilizing an open classroom approach and the other a traditional approach. The measurement instruments used included the Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale and the Pictorial Self-Concept Scale, the "Faces" Inventory, and the Stanford Achievement Test. Pretests on the three variables were administered in May and June of 1972 and posttests were administered in May and June of 1974. In addition, data related to teacher attitudes and classroom environment and practices were collected and analyzed. The results of an analysis of covariance did not provide support for any conclusive comprehensive statements concerning the relative effectiveness of the open or the traditional instructional program. However, there was evidence to suggest that the open classroom instructional program effected positive changes in the affective areas of self-concept and attitude toward school. Students in both instructional programs performed equally well in the achievement of basic skills. (JMB)

The concept of lifelong learning places new emphasis on helping out-of-school adults make their educational and employment choices. Educational institutions are beginning to extend their counseling services to adults who need them. However, other agencies and various educational programs designed to meet specific adult needs, which include educational and/or employment counseling, operate throughout the state of Pennsylvania. This report identifies the types and locations of the various counseling services within the state on a regional basis. While this report focuses on specific services in a single state, it offers guidelines to others, relating to services which might be offered as part of a total state service program to all adults in that state. (Author/CJ)

The report on Pennsylvania's 17 Career Resource Centers (CRCs) describes their background, the procedures followed in their development and administration, their ability to satisfy the six CRC objectives (collecting, evaluating, and disseminating accurate and relevant career information; providing assistance to the center's clientele in locating, evaluating, and using career information; helping students integrate self-knowledge with relevant career information; assisting faculty in integrating information into their instructional activities to support their students' career development; helping parents become active, concerned, and understanding participants in the career development of their children; and using community resources in fostering better understanding of the relationship of education to work), conclusions and recommendations of the report, and related information on CRCs. Ten appendixes, comprising nearly three-fourths of the document, include: an equipment and material list, career research reports, student evaluation of the CRC, CRC curriculum materials, faculty evaluation of the CRC, a model for career consultants, CRC evaluation instruments, application for student advisory committee, CRC floor plans, and news releases. (JR)

Overall enrollment trends (changes) in each sector (state-owned, state-related, community colleges, state-aided, and private colleges and universities) of Pennsylvania higher education over the last 10 years are examined and the conditions that impact on these changes are identified. The variables included for the analysis are divided into four groups: demographic, economic, costs (such as tuition), and equalizers (such as financial grants). Data are presented indicating that although there are differences in the cost of a postsecondary education among the five sectors, there are indications that these differences are decreasing. Related research suggesting that increasing costs are related to declining enrollment is summarized. For those variables selected, data were originally collected from 1967 through 1976 by higher education sector. The correlation of the demographic variables with full-time freshman enrollment changes in the five sectors seems to indicate a high relationship. The statistical relationship between the community colleges and the state-aided and private colleges was found to be negative as was the relationship between the state- related and private colleges. (SPG)

Compared in this document are the post-high school activities of the 1972 and 1973 graduates from public and nonpublic high schools in Pennsylvania. Areas of comparison were (1) enrollment in a postsecondary degree-granting institution (PDGI) vs. other activities (enrollment decreased by 5,172 students from 1972 to 1973; the number finding work increased slightly; 750 fewer students entered the military); (2) public vs. nonpublic high school graduates (40% public vs. 54.5% private school graduates entered a PDGI, and 3.5% vs. 1.7% entered the armed forces); (3) public high school graduates by sex (an almost equal number graduated, but 2,180 fewer women entered a PDGI and left the state, more entered an associate degree-granting business school); (4) 1973 public high school graduates by race and sex (regardless of race, more males attended a PDGI; the majority of Oriental Americans went to college, whereas the percentage of Blacks was below that of all graduates); (5) post high school activities of public academic program graduates (of the 38% in academic programs, 50.1% were male; the majority of Oriental Americans were in academic programs; Black and Spanish Americans were underrepresented); (6) post high school activities of public vocational-technical program graduates (35% of 1972 graduates and 40.4% of 1973 graduates were vocational-technical students, but only 12.5% attended PDGIs); and (7) 1973 graduates and employment (31% employed with 13% of that total from nonpublic schools; more females had received vocational training; the proportion of Blacks and Spanish Americans who entered the labor force was about the same as for all graduates, though a much smaller proportion of these were from academic programs; and less than 8% of Oriental American public school graduates worked immediately.) Data tables are appended. (VB)

This study was undertaken to examine the reliability and validity of a student-designed instrument developed to provide feedback to high school teachers on student perception of teacher performance. The Student Observation of Teachers and Teaching Techniques (StOTT) questionnaire was developed by a board of eleventh- and twelfth-grade Pennsylvania students. The questionnaire contains twenty-nine positive statements concerning a teacher's classroom behavior, with a five-point scale provided for student responses. The statements are arranqed in five subsets: Student-Teacher Relations, Grades and Testing, Materials, Teacher Personality, and Teaching Methods and Techniques. Three final questions investigate: (1) distracting personal mannerisms; (2) reasons for taking the course; and (3) feelinqs about recommending the course to others. Testing of the instrument was performed with a group of thirty-six teachers and 925 students divided into three treatment groups. Analyses of student responses and comparison of these analyses with previous research on teacher rating by students suggests that the StOTT is highly useful. Students seemed capable of making and repeating stable ratings over a period of time among the items. The subscales of the instrument make sense conceptually and in general are internally consistent. The major problem uncovered is that students of differing achievement levels will tend to rate teachers differently, with the more successful students giving higher StOTT ratings, and those who are "turned off" to school giving lower ratings. The major conclusion of the study is that, while the StOTT should not be used to evaluate or compare high school teachers, it is a valuable instrument for teachers to use in their own classrooms. (MJB)

Results of a followup study of 40 elementary guidance programs established with ESEA Title III funds in 1976 showed that the funding of the programs for one year had a significant impact: 32 of the 40 districts assumed the funding of the programs after the initial year of operation. The remaining eight districts reported that the programs had been very successful and effective but were discontinued after the initial year of funding due to lack of funding. The survey also showed that: (1) Most of the programs which were still in operation had expanded their staff and/or services. (2) Three districts which had discontinued the program due to lack of funds had included elementary guidance in their district's long-range plan. (3) Twenty-three of the 29 districts responding to the mail questionnaire had assumed the entire funding of the elementary guidance program; four of the districts were financing the program with district and Title IV funds; one was using all Title IV funds; and one was using district and Title I funds. (4) The counselors were very enthusiastic about the program and reported strong support by the administration, teachers, community and students. (5) The counselors felt that the communication problems experienced during the initial year of operation had been resolved and that the major weakness of the program in 1979 was understaffing. Thus, their primary recommendation for the improvement of the programs was to expand the staff. (Author)

The primary research goal of the Pennsylvania Department of Education is to help solve problems stemming from recent changes in education. The purposes of this publication are to distribute research products in a consolidated format, to share experience and knowledge with other state agencies, and to encourage the use of research findings as a means of improving education. Chapters 1 and 2 describe administrative, policy, and fiscal studies done at the request of policy-makers. Chapter 3 summarizes project evaluation research at the state level. Instrument development and evaluation of student performance are emphasized in Chapter 4. Chapters 5 and 6 deal with ongoing services provided to other Pennsylvania Department of Education bureaus, offices, or agencies in development of educational programs or in formulation of educational plans such as the master plan for Pennsylvania higher education. (Author/JM)

In the 1960s teacher demand and supply increased rapidly to match the increasing school enrollments of those years in Pennsylvania. But due to declining enrollments and lower than normal teacher replacement needs in the 1970s the demand for teachers began to fall faster than the supply. Rather conservative projections indicate that teacher supply may well average 50 percent higher than demand in the mid-1980s. However, this oversupply is mitigated by bachelor's graduates in education consistently ranking among the top 10 of the 23 major disciplines for those with some kind of full-time employment five months after graduation. The analysis is based on extensive data relative to: population change, public school enrollment, public and nonpublic schools, and grade and age level characteristics as they relate to teacher demand; sources of teacher supply, teacher graduates, out of state teacher supply, and supply reservoirs; and the relationship of teacher demand to supply in Pennsylvania. (Author/DS)

A survey was taken to elicit participants' perceptions of the quality of inservice courses in Pennsylvania. The 610 respondents represented a wide variety of school districts and inservice programs and were made up primarily of teachers, although nurses and administrators responded as well. The responses indicated very strongly that inservice courses are of high quality, are presented by people with excellent abilities to communicate knowledge, and are by and large more valuable than traditional graduate courses at colleges and universities. Results showed a high proportion (60 percent) of permanently certified people continuing to pursue educational development through inservice courses. This result suggests that there will continue to be a large demand for inservice courses so long as they continue to meet the needs of the participants. (DS)

As part of a study of the success of tranfer students as measured by their grade point averages (GPA's), questionnaires were sent to most postsecondary institutions in Pennsylvania. Of the 110 four-year institutions surveyed, 56 (51%) supplied usable data. They reported 2,441 transfers from Pennsylvania community colleges. Of the 2,000 students who remained at their transfer institution for the academic year, 236 (12%) raised their GPA's by more than .5, 701 (35%) dropped their GPA's by more than .5, and 7,063 (53%) maintained their GPA's within .5. Of the 14 community colleges surveyed, only four provided usable data. They reported 523 transfers from four-year institutions; 405 from Pennsylvania and 118 from out-of-state. The GPA's of 287 (55%) of these students increased by more than .5; decreases of more than .5 were seen in the GPA's of 50 (10%) of the students; and 186 (35%) students maintained approximately the same GPA. When statistics from 1976 were compared with those from 1974 and 1975, it was found that transfer students were selecting private institutions at an increasing rate and that the number of students transferring from four-year to two-year institutions had tripled. State-related, state-owned, private state-aided, and private four-year institutions were examined as sub-groups in the study, and information for each college surveyed and reasons for substantial variance in their findings are included in the study report. (Author/MB)

The report, most of which consists of graphs, charts, and tables, compares the services, resources, and expensitures for the school years 1975-76 and 1976-77 of intermediate units providing special education services for handicapped children in the State of Pennsylvania. Included are such things as listings of the different types of programs each unit provides, tables with the number of programs each unit offers, and charts displaying each unit's income by source for both school years. (DLS)

A survey was conducted to assess the various forms of articulation practiced by the Pennsylvania community colleges, including horizontal articulation (involving the movement of students from a program at one institution to another at the same level), vertical articulation (involving movement of students from one competency level to a higher level, e.g., high school/community college and community college/college or university), and administrative articulation (the achievement of financial savings through sharing of facilities and services). Presidents of all 14 community colleges responded to the survey. The following conclusions resulted from the findings: (1) programmatic/curricular forms of articulation which facilitate the flow of a student from or to the community colleges had been implemented by a majority of the colleges; (2) the colleges had established good communication with their sponsoring high schools and vocational-technical schools; (3) most of the colleges were making every effort to grant prospective students credit for work/life experiences; (4) with few exceptions, students were permitted to proceed at their own pace, step-out to work, and repeat courses to improve their grade point average; (5) respondents felt articulation agreements must be initiated by local administrators and staff; and (6) many forms of cost-effective administrative articulation agreements had been developed. The questionnaire and documentation from selected early admissions and advanced placement programs are appended. (Author/MB)

The postgraduate employment status of students graduated in all degree fields and degree levels from Pennsylvania postsecondary institutions in 1976 is presented. Where possible, the 1976 survey findings are compared with 1975 findings. Data for 45,915 graduates, or 51.4 percent of the graduates of institutions of higher education at all degree levels from 77 percent of Pennsylvania's postsecondary institutions in 1976 were used. As to employment success, results indicate a relatively strong demand for bachelor's degree graduates in computer and information sciences, health professions, engineering, business and management, library science and home economics. A weaker job market faced bachelor's degree graduates in such major disciplines as social studies, psychology, interdisciplinary studies, physical sciences, and biology. A considerably higher percentage of associate degree graduates pursued advanced degrees, and a much lower proportion were unemployed than was the case with baccalaureate degree graduates. At more advanced degree levels the employment picture was increasingly favorable. The appendix contains tables which supplement those in the text. (Author/SPG)

This publication reports the results of a survey in which the counselors were asked to rank various functions according to: (1) time actually allotted to the task over the year, and (2) ideal time allottments. The survey covered 40 elementary guidance projects funded by ESEA Title Three. The counselor's role was unique at each location. Results show that counselor's roles in the new programs were primarily devoted to consultation with teachers and resource persons, and individual counseling with students. The ranking of functions under an ideal situation closely followed the actual ranking. Types of personnel who previously handled duties now performed by the counselors are listed. Over a third of the counselors' activities had not been done before. Of those duties performed by others, most had been done by administrators. Strengths, weaknesses and recommendations of 27 districts are included. The qualities of the person selected as counselor was the major strength listed. The most-mentioned weakness was that the program objectives were too ambitious for the amount of time and number of people. The most frequent recommendation was that a regular information program be established for teachers and parents. A listing of the participating school districts appears. (Author)