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The Center for Vocational and Technical Education initiated the Occasional Paper Series to provide educators and other interested individuals with information dealing with critical issues and problems surrounding the education of human beings. The interest of the center in the entire career education concept stimulated it to include in this series recent views on career education of Dr. T. H. Bell, U. S. Commissioner of Education, and the newly derived career education policy of the United States Office of Education as explained by Dr. Kenneth B. Hoyt, Associate Commissioner, Office of Career Education, Office of Education. Dr. Bell's paper cites examples of the unanticipated success of career education; expresses hopes that career education will be primarily a State and local matter; and points to the need for work to be done in the areas of improved quality, evaluation, and implementation, particularly at the high school level and among special groups. Dr. Hoyt's paper proposes career education as the response to criticisms of the present educational system, through the use of the concept of work. Basic concept assumptions are offered which will represent a philosophic base for career education, programmatic assumptions, suggestions for implementation, and specific learner outcomes which will involve basic educational policy changes. (Author/AJ)

The paper, one of a series written as the Management Information System for Occupational Education (MISOE) was conceptualized, examines relationships between the anticipated census and sample data to be developed and maintained by the system. Two related information sources are planned: one is a census information system which includes data about every occupational education program in every school in every city and town in Massachusetts, and the other is a sample information system by occupational programs, stratified over school-type, geographical setting-type, and student characteristic-type dimensions currently operative in the State. The types and purposes of the census and sample data to be collected and maintained are described. The descriptive data (input information, process information, product information, and impact information) and analytical data (cost accounting information, process product data, cost product information, product impact information, process impact data, and cost impact data) included in the sample data system are discussed at length, defining each type and showing how each data type is related to the census. (The author suggests that Monograph Number 1, which is available as ED 062 553, be read in conjunction with this paper.) (Author/MS)

The purpose of this paper is to specify the design for evaluating the second year Health Start Program. This design is used as the basis for the determination of the data to be collected and the comparisons that will be made using these data to provide information to answer the policy questions asked by the Office of Child Development (OCD). For OCD, the basic purpose of the evaluation is to identify successful procedures, strategies, and methods of operation that could be transfered and applied to Head Start or other types of local health service delivery programs. In addition, rapid feedback was to be provided about: (a) whether local projects are complying with program guidelines and grant conditions; (b) the managerial efficiency of projects; and (c) the need for technical assistance either in management or substantive areas. This form of feedback is called project management in this paper, distinguishing it from the evaluation of the program which is the main purpose of this effort. For this analysis, two kinds of comparisons are made: (1) comparisons between particular procedures and strategies within the Health Start program; and (2) comparisons between Health Start and the health component of a sample of Head Start programs. Appendices contain the data collection instruments. (RC)

This working paper is the culmination of a number of meetings of the Task Force on the Community College with people in community colleges and their communities, as well as with people in noncollege communities, to obtain views regarding the nature of community colleges and the functions that they should perform in British Columbia. Special areas of concern were the following: New college and college facilities development; college role in media/communications; continuing education; community education and development; student services; extracurricular activities; admissions policy; fee structure; worker study leave; professional development; college hiring policy; and bargaining relationships. Recommendations of the task force are made as to regions, finance, governance--council and internal--college/department of education relations, and college/university relations. Appendixes provide: a Map and Table of Present and Proposed College Regions and Lists of School Districts; Sites for May Hearings; Information Regarding Presentation of Briefs and Statements; and List of Those Who Were Contacted by or Contacted the Task Force. (DB)

The working paper concentrates on the general objective, "How do the agency (Federal) and its policy makers utilize the information conveyed by scientific manpower forecasts?" Section 1 examines reasons for the growth in demand for these forecasts: (1) benefit cost analysis of public projects with long payout periods must rely on forecasts; (2) the evaluation of a government agency is typically accomplished by compiling massive quantities of data; (3) information differs from other economic goods because the seller of information is unable to appropriate all of the returns to his information. In section 2 the methodology which characterizes the available scientific manpower forecasts is critically examined, concentrating on three kinds of forecasts: (1) the academic requirements for new doctorates, (2) the manpower requirements for specific occupations, and (3) the supplies of college educated workers. Finally in section 3 attention is directed to the labor market for Ph.D.'s reviewed with reference to the National Science Foundation projections of doctorate supplies and requirements in 1980. The author outlines a model describing the investment on the part of students in obtaining a doctorate degree and the demand on the part of universities for graduate students, in terms of a market equilibrium. (BP)

This paper offers a critical look at the current research base supporting development and evaluation (D&E) models of instructional products. The author, accepting as valid a definition of D&E models as "exemplary models, outlining designs or conceptions of things worthy of imitation," examines current interest in their development and use and offers a review of past research on models. The main findings of this review is that, while guides for developing performance specifications abound, research into the utility of such procedures is minimal. The same situation prevails with research concerning the evaluation of instructional products. Two basic problems, which must be solved before adequate empirical data may be accumulated, concerning D&E models are: (1) just what constitutes a development or evaluation model, and how can one identify and adequately describe such models; and (2) what are the actual purposes for using development and evaluation models in materials development. As researchers begin to address these questions and use them to focus their work, better evidence will come to light regarding the utility of using models in the development and evaluation of instructional products. (MB)

This document describes the process by which aspects of nonverbal communication that appear to be indicators of involvement were identified, described, classified, and rated. To facilitate this process, an Action Category System was developed through observation in the natural classroom setting and subsequent analyses of the recorded behavior data. Efforts to devise a behavior category system resulted in these final action categories: motion, stance, pause, visual, nonvisual facial, and self-sounds. Dimensions, indications of how a nonverbal activity is performed, were also defined to aid data collection. Dimensions indicate the speed, frequency, duration, directionality, tension, and range of a nonverbal action. To rate these dimensions, a point of reference must necessarily be identified (five bases, or points of reference, for rating dimensions are given and examples of their use). Some recommended instructions for rating each dimension and an alternative proposal for grouping and defining bases are presented. Further explanations of these data collection processes can be found in two of the appendixes which contain a working paper on dimension definitions and coding procedures and a set of data collection exercises. (SDH)

The developmental paper, one of a series written as the Management Information System for Occupational Education (MISOE) was conceptualized, is a first attempt to picture the computer system necessary to carry out the project's goals. It describes the basic structure and the anticipated strategies of development of the computer system to be used. Three major subsystems are discussed: the data entry subsystem (processing raw census and sample data organized into input, process, product, and impact data types), the analysis subsystem (performing second level and contingency analyses), and the optimization and forecasting subsystem (providing decision-making tools through mathematical and simulative analyses). The use of computer simulation as a decision-making tool is discussed in some depth. System development in two phases is outlined. All figures supplementing the text are placed in the appendix. (Author/MS)

Career education is one possible response to 11 criticisms of the present educational system centering on relationships and lifestyles of individuals. The response can be made through the use of the concept of work. "Work" is defined as conscious effort, other than that involved in activities whose primary purpose is either coping or relaxation, aimed at producing benefits for oneself and/or for oneself and others. Career education is defined as the totality of experiences through which one learns about and prepares to engage in work as part of her or his way of living. Based on the latter definition, 10 basic concept assumptions were formulated which represent a philosophical base for current career education efforts. Certain programmatic assumptions were arrived at, and suggestions for implementation of career education programs involved members of the educational and civic communities. Nine specific learner outcomes were determined which will involve basic educational policy changes. A 28-page appendix presents the results from a tabulation and analysis of responses to a study guide (especially prepared for eliciting responses from local, State, and national educators to specific statements in a draft document) to assess the degree of consensus on the concept of career education. (AG)

Elicited imitation occurs in an experimental situation during which subjects are requested to repeat a model sentence constructed so as to include specific desired grammatical structures. Elicited translation involves giving subjects a sentence in one language, and asking them to say the same thing, but in another language; elicited translation may work from native language to second language or vice versa. This study finds both methods useful as indicators of second language competence. Imitation taps both comprehension and production; data obtained through imitation may be interpreted to determine the stage of acquisition of a given structure. Translation also taps aspects of second language competence, although additional investigation is needed into the translation process itself and into other variations of the translation task. (Author/DB)

How can the structure of a management system be reviewed? What specific data should be collected and what procedures should be followed? The specific data collection methodology consists of three steps: (1) description of process outputs, procedures, and inputs; (2) evaluation of effectiveness, needs, and priorities for change in the process; and (3) flow charts of process operations and relationships between processes. Each of these steps is described in detail and data collection forms are provided. This approach has wide applicability to different types of organizations. Data collected are useful to (1) identify areas of college management structure that need improvement, and (2) evaluate changes after they have been implemented. (Author/KE)

The Resource Allocations and Management Program grant funds a project aimed at facilitating the use of management science and information systems techniques by developing, documenting, and testing a methodology that small postsecondary units can use in considering the application of these tools. This document provides a description and an overview of the data collection methods used in this project. In developing the review phase, the thrust is to provide an approach that is based on data collection and analysis and is systematic in nature. Also developed is a general description of the review phase structure that forms a basis for the development of specific data collection methodology. (Author)

The study of problems in State planning for vocational education surveyed the vocational education directors in the various States and the District of Columbia to determine what were their major planning problems. The survey instrument consisted of three sections: time spent on planning (both in general and on the State Plan for vocational education), problems in vocational education planning, and identification of critical planning problems. It was administered to State directors in January 1973, and 33 useable questionnaires were completed. From the survey of time allocated to planning, the data indicate that overall State planning constitutes on the average about 20% of the total man-months available for all purposes, while State Plan developing takes only about five percent of available time. In addition, two distinct measures indicate that the most pressing problem facing State directors was the uncertainty of the availability of future fiscal resources. Clustering the States according to similarity of responses suggests that, holding percentage of total time spent on planning constant, those States which devote the least of their planning time to the State Plan and more time to State planning in general have the least severe planning problems. The 10-page survey instrument comprises an appendix. (Author/JR)

This paper describes Project on Involvement, which was designed to investigate student involvement in a task by defining it in terms of nonverbal behaviors and by identifying its dimensions. To accomplish these objectives, eight trained graduate students made 15-minute observations of each of 44 preschool children. The children were observed in the natural classroom setting from behind one-way screens and all nonverbal behaviors were recorded in diary fashion. The data obtained were analyzed using a content analysis procedure that included the following steps: devising a category system, checking reliability in applying the category system, and revising the category system. There were three outcomes of the analysis: (1) a definition of involvement that refers to nonverbal behaviors and their modifiers which indicate "how" a body expresses itself and "how" it moves; (2) eight dimensions of involvement: speed, tension, frequency, duration, specific-global, direction, frequency of change, and range of movement and sound; and (3) some ideas about how these outcomes might be utilized in the future development of an instrument. Concluding discussion focuses on the implications of the project both for classroom procedures and further studies. Five appendixes and an annotated bibliography are included. (SDH)

International social indicators, focusing on assessment of the quality of life, measurement of social changes, and program evaluation, are the subject of this paper. Beginning with a look at various national reports which are currently being produced, it is felt that these documents and the data gathering activities upon which they are based form the bulk of much of what is known about international social indicators. The same national reports, furthermore, confront many of the methodological and substantive issues which must be faced in cross-national projects with social data. The major activities involved in using international social indicators are comparison of conditions in various countries, cross-national programs of data collection, and multinational programs of data collection. The major portion of the paper presents an outline of some major international projects and a discussion of some on-going data collection activities which will provide important new information to the field of international social indicators. Discussion focuses on potentially comparative studies, juxtaposition of national data and cross-national data collection. Tables illustrate social changes in Japan and a typology of international social indicators. (Author/KSM)