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The document describes findings of a study of the cost of special education and related services for handicapped children, using information from a national survey taken in 1977-1978. Twenty chapters cover the following study components: objective of the study; summary of study findings; description of sample states and localities; data collection and analysis methods; personnel salaries and work years; age, handicapping condition, and type of educational placement of the handicapped student population; instructional costs of special education teachers; special education aide costs; instructional costs of regular education teachers and aides; costs for related services personnel; screening costs; assessment costs; admission and individualized education program development costs; staff inservice training costs; technical assistance costs; transportation costs; other costs of educating handicapped children; other costs of educating nonhandicapped children; total and added costs of special education; and total cost of special education by size of local education agency enrollment. Tables with statistical data are provided throughout the report. (SB)

The report summarizes findings of a study of the cost of special education and related services for handicapped children, using information from a national survey taken in 1977-1978. The document is divided into 22 sections, beginning with an introduction which describes the study's objective, gives an overview of findings, and outlines the report. Sections II and III describe the selection of a nationally representative sample and the data collection and analysis methods. Personnel salaries and work years are examined in Section IV. A fifth section summarizes the educational placements and age levels of handicapped students served. Sections VI through XVII discuss the estimated costs of various types of special education and related services, including costs of special education teacher instruction, special education aides, regular education teacher and aide instruction, related services personnel, screening, assessment, admission and individualized education program development, staff inservice training, technical assistance, transportation, and other costs. Sections XVIII through XXI summarize the estimated total and added costs of special education and related services, as well as cost weighting factors. Finally, Section XXII presents the variation in the total cost of special education by size of school district enrollment. (SB)

Focusing specifically on the two largest federal education programs, Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142), this study analyzes how states implement federal and state education programs. The book is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 offers background on federal-state relations and explains the research methods used, the grants-in-aid system, and the conceptual framework guiding the study. Chapter 2 describes the four states in the sample and identifies those political and organizational characteristics that shape policy implementation. Chapter 3 presents a comparative analysis of the data and discusses the conditions under which state political factors are most likely to enhance the state education agency's role and capacity. Chapters 4 and 5 examine Title I, PL 94-142, and state programs serving similar student groups. The final chapter addresses policy questions, especially those related to state capacity and its implications for changing federal and state roles in public education. (Author/WD)

Capabilities and limitations of 251 severely visually impaired persons (senior high school age or older) were assessed on a range of visual environmental adaptation problems to learn how they are organized and influenced. Factor analyses indicated that problems can be grouped on the basis of eight functional domains, among which an independent living skills factor accounted for most response variance. Major influences on outcomes in these domains were acuity, age, sex, education, and perceived impact of impairment on quality of life. Results suggested the usefulness of rehabilitation programs geared to activity domains rather than to vision parameters. (CL)

Effects of experimental learning environments on students' perceptions of themselves and others were evaluated using a nonverbal self-social constructs test. Data were collected from 4000 students representing elementary schools with traditional or experimental learning environments. The experimental environments allowed parents and students to choose among multiple program options. The Self Social Constructs Test (SSCT) was used to evaluate six psycho-social dimensions of students: self-esteem, social distance from others in the school environment, scope of peer attachment, social interest, perceived inclusion, and perceived individuation. The SSCT employed spatial symbols (circles and lines) to represent self and social situations. By selecting and/or arranging symbols, students provided spatial maps interpretable for perceived relationships between themselves and others such as peers, parents, and teachers. Analyses of variance employing school type, grade, ethnicity, and sex as independent factors supported the following conclusions. Students in the multiple-option system perceived themselves as closer to their teachers, more attached to peers, and more included in the domain of social influence. They also retained a stronger sense of individuality. (Author/AV)

This report examines the public's role in determining the dimensions of the public interest in the regulation of broadcast services. Chapter II describes some of the avenues open to citizens to influence the Federal Communication Commission, including: (1) direct contact between broadcasters and citizens, (2) citizen participation in the Commission's rulemaking process, and (3) citizen involvement in the Commission's broadcast licensing activities. It also discusses allocation of citizen resources among the various avenues of participation. Chapter III focuses on two methods of participation which have gained popularity: petitions to deny and citizen settlements. These two methods have resulted in policy problems which are analyzed in Chapter IV. Chapter IV also critizes some commission policies and makes recommendations for additional or modified procedures. Chapter V examines and evaluates the application of "Proposed Agreements Rulemaking" to four cases and explores alternative grounds of decision. Chapter VI analyzes the final statement of Commission policy toward citizen settlement together with the "Reimbursement Report and Order." Chapter VII brings together major factors in the development of the Commission's policy and provides a set of recommendations for further research. Appendices reproduce portions of relevant documents and present an economic analysis of litigating a petition. (WBC)

The purposes of this study are (1) to estimate the number of commercial UHF television stations that are likely to come on the air between the present and 1990, and (2) to determine whether spectrum resources already allocated will be adequate in meeting this demand. Collaterally, the study seeks to determine whether some spectrum space now allocated to commercial UHF broadcasting will continue to lie idle and may be subject to reallocation to competing services. Taking 1974 as a base year, the study examines relationships among the existing stations and such variables as the number of television households, the growth of cable television, and the competition from overlapping television markets. It projects the number of stations along various paths into the future depending upon certain assumptions, including new services such as pay television. It concludes that the number of UHF commercial broadcasting stations will continue to rise between now and 1990. However, except for a few scattered markets, existing spectrum assignments appear adequate to accommodate this growth. The report is supplemented by a series of appendices, one of which is a model of the determination of the number of viable UHF television stattions. (WBC)

A military research study focused on the cost of on-the-job training (OJT) for enlisted men until they reach the proficiency level of journeyman, with objectives to develop a costing methodology for OJT sufficiently general to be used in almost any occupational specialty in any of the services and to pilot test that methodology and evaluate its usefulness. The method developed is a straightforward application of human capital theory in which the military's investment in OJT is measured as the present value of the sum of positive differences between an individual's military pay and productivity over time. Data for the pilot study of the method of estimating costs of OJT were collected at Norton Air Force Base, California, in the fall of 1972. The usable sample was drawn from approximately 700 men in the occupational group Aircraft Maintenance Specialists, the largest Air Force specialty, with the final sample for analysis consisting of sixty-four individuals based on the survey responses of twelve supervisors. The results in the pilot study indicate that the method gives plausible estimates of the magnitude of OJT costs and their relationship to trainee attributes. Measured mental ability and previous education were found to be importantly related to OJT costs, and the "typical trainee" approach of estimating costs of OJT was shown to give seriously downward-biased estimates. (VB)

This paper reviews the current state of knowledge on desegregation in the nation's schools. It discusses justifications for and definitions of desegregation. It attempts to answer the following questions: What progress has been attained in the desegregation of schools? What have been the consequences? Which practices have been successful? What questions remain? Specific areas of concern addressed in the answers include: student success in school, racial harmony, desegregation and student withdrawal, staff desegregation and development, school reform, federal assistance, ethnic proportions of students and volunteerism. It is concluded that we are ignorant about the consequences of specific actions used to desegregate schools. More research is suggested. (Author/JP)

The effects of four educational benefit programs for military personnel were tested nationwide. The four benefit programs included a control or baseline contributory program, the Veterans Educational Assistance Program (VEAP); a second contribution program offering enhanced kickers in the Army, the Ultra VEAP; and two noncontributory plans, the Noncontributory VEAP and a tuition/stipend program. (In a contributory program, the service member contributes to an educational fund with the government matching the contribution at a set ratio. Any enlistee can participate in VEAP; for the other programs, an enlistee must meet a high quality criterion and enter a specified, critical specialty.) The largest estimated response appeared in the Ultra VEAP program that increased Army enlistments by 9 percent. Effects for the noncontributory VEAP program were small. The tuition/stipend program increased Navy and Air Force enlistments by 5 to 8 percent. It also reduced Army enlistments by 6 percent, since the Army could not offer greater benefits than the other services as it does in VEAP. It was shown that educational benefits could produce significant increases in high quality enlistments but lead to a drop in the number of high quality Army enlistments. (YLB)

The occupational distributions in the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) programs and the wage implications of these for men and women of different racial and ethnic origins were examined. Data came from two projects on CETA, both using Continuous Longitudinal Manpower Survey data. One assessed the nature and equity of men's and women's CETA experience, the other--ethnic and racial differences. Relative to men with the same placement characteristics, women were more likely to enter CETA under Title I (basic education, job training, work experience services) and less likely to enter under Titles II and IV (public service jobs). Small or no effects of race and ethnicity on CETA occupational status and wages were found. Training or working in traditional male or mixed occupations gave women higher CETA wages than training or working in traditional female occupations. CETA wages were consistently lower for women than men in the same occupations, CETA service, or traditionality category. CETA employed 80 percent of the women and 67 percent of the men in occupations whose unsubsidized counterparts had the lowest wages and highest unemployment rates. In CETA training, CETA retained the percent of women in lower wage occupations but reduced the percent of men to 50 percent. (YLB)

To investigate fiscal retrenchment effects on states' related services for handicapped youth and to help evaluate Public Law (PL) 94-142 regulations, researchers conducted 120 telephone interviews with state education agency staff in charge of related services and with other educators and citizens in 16 states representing different geographical regions, proportions of special needs populations, educational revenue sources, and levels of interest in special education. "Related services" are corrective, developmental, or supportive services to assist handicapped youth in special education, such as speech therapy or counseling. The researchers sought to discover how related services are provided, what strategies are used to manage service-delivery problems, and what the future of related services is. Interview results are presented in three sections. The first section notes PL 94-142's effects on state programs and related services and lists problems in services delivery, including economic and financial shortages, institutional and political constraints, and lack of interagency coordination and communication. The second section describes seven strategies used to manage these problems, such as interagency agreements and cost-sharing arrangements. The third section discusses factors curtailing or favoring related services in the future. An appendix outlines other types of agencies and federal programs providing related services. (RW)

As part of a project to improve the quality of survey data and to link survey data to policy formulation and research needs in the military, a study was made of more than 54,000 men and women military officers and enlisted personnel in 1978-79. The survey sought information about their personal preferences and attitudes, past behavior, and career orientations. This report, organized into 16 sections, presents an overview of the survey. Section 1 provides an introduction to the project and an overview of the report, while section 2 summarizes the survey, describes the sample, and provides the additional information needed to understand and use the 556 tables in the report. The following sections cover these topics: (3) pay grade, hours of work, and assignment location; (4) age, sex, race or ethnic group, and education; (5) marital status and dependents; (6) military experience of immediate families; (7) effects of rotation and assignment on military personnel and their households; (8) financial status and participation of the military personnel and their spouses in the civilian labor force; (9) military compensation and benefits; (10) service and career plans; (11) promotion potential from the perspective of the military personnel; (12) retirement system from their perspective; (13) views of military personnel on participation in the reserves; (14) racial and ethnic relations; (15) attitudes toward women; and (16) satisfaction, morale, and problems in military life. Each section begins with a summary of the information that it contains, indicates the importance of the topic for military manpower analysis, explains the applicable tables, and describes selected results. (KC)

With the military's requirements for high-quality recruits expected to increase over the next decade, a study was conducted to evaluate the recruiting potential of two-year post-secondary institutions. Specifically, the study sought to ascertain the characteristics of two-year colleges, whether sufficient numbers of potential recruits existed in these institutions for fruitful recruitment, the degree to which these students met enlistment standards, the penetrability of the market, the value of previous recruits, and research needed for the development of successful recruitment policies. A review of the literature on higher education and military recruiting from this market, as well as analyses of data from the Defense Manpower Data Center and from three large-scale surveys of youth, revealed that: (1) over 1 million male two-year college students were estimated to fall within recruitment ages; (2) this market had not been substantially penetrated, as less than 4% of all 1981 recruits without prior military experience had 1 or 2 years of college, and less than 1% of the two-year college class of 1981 were considering a military career option; (3) the instability of two-year college students' educational and career goals indicated that with the right recruitment incentives and strategies the market could be penetrated; and (4) recruits with prior college experience had lower attrition rates than non-college recruits. Recommendations for further study are included. (DAB)

A study examined the occupational differences between Hispanics and non-Hispanics. The study focused on the determinants of Hispanic occupational achievement; differences in the process of occupational achievement among different Hispanic ethnic subgroups; variations in the process of occupational achievement across geographic areas; and differences among the occupational achievement of Hispanics, Blacks, and non-Hispanic Whites. Data pertaining to earnings, steadiness of employment, and general job quality of Hispanic workers were compiled from various sources, including the 1970 Census of Population and the 1976 Survey of Income and Education. Once effects of schooling, experience, foreign birth, English language ability, location, and race are taken into consideration, data do not show differences in the earning levels of men's occupations among major ethnic subgroups of the United States Hispanic population. If the factor of foreign birth has any effects on occupational earnings potential, they appear to be mediated through English language ability. Furthermore, the effect of schooling on occupational earnings is about the same for Hispanic and non-White Hispanic men. For both groups schooling and length of labor force experience have only modest effects on occupational salary potential. Recommendations called for helping Hispanic men improve their English proficiency to fluency or near fluency. (MN)

A study was conducted to identify the separate influences of individual background characteristics and service environment on post-training attrition in the Army and Air Force. A second objective of the study was to determine whether the correlates of post-training attrition vary across services and military occupations. Data for the analysis of attrition behavior were obtained from the FY75 Cohort File created by the Defense Manpower Data Center. These data indicate that military occupation and duty location are significantly correlated with post-training attrition, after controlling for individual characteristics. Among individual characteristics, the research demonstrates that high school graduates have much lower post-training attrition rates than nongraduates and that participation in a delayed entry program prior to entering the military tends to reduce substantially the likelihood of attrition. Married recruits are less likely to leave early than single recruits, but the presence of children enhances attrition. Recommendations were made calling for more stringent accession screens, for changing personnel practices to reduce the incentives to leave high-attrition work environments and locations, and for either altering the mix of military occupations held or enhancing the attractiveness of high-attrition occupations. (MN)

A study of the existing local needs, resources, and services for limited English speaking residents of the United States was undertaken to clarify local, state, and federal responsibility for the provision of services. For a small but representative sample consisting of eight school districts serving minority language students, the study provides answers to five questions: (1) What services are being delivered? (2) How do the patterns of service vary by district type? (3) What specific deficiencies in language assistance services are perceived by beneficiary groups and educators? (4) What is the apparent cause of these deficiencies? and (5) Do local beneficiary groups and educators see any need for federal regulation, and if so, what should the rules encompass? Key findings include these: (1) services to language minority students vary enormously among school districts; (2) language assistance services are seldom available in secondary schools despite the growing need; (3) few districts have adequate means for identifying need or assessing when it is appropriate to terminate instruction; (4) districts have serious problems finding qualified teachers and materials for some less common language groups; and (5) programs most favored include those that involve local communities in developing appropriate services. Two broad recommendations are made: that federal regulation is needed to assure that districts do not neglect the education of language minority children, and that the federal government should support research and development to improve language assistance programs. (MSE)

A meta analysis of 93 research reports on school desegregation and black achievement was conducted to determine (1) why the study results differed as to apparent desegregation effects; and (2) whether some desegregation plans produced greater achievement gains than others. An analysis indicated that inconsistencies in research findings were mainly due to two methodological flaws: the inability of most desegregation studies to focus on the earliest levels of schooling, where desegegation effects are most significant; and the absence of adequate control groups in most studies. Examination of reported desegregation effects showed that (1) desegregation produced greater gains for IQ scores than for achievement test scores; (2) achievement gains in successful desegregated schools were greater in reading and language arts for elementary school pupils and in science and social studies for high school students; and (3) the most successful desegregation plans were those that resulted in schools with a majority and more than a token number of blacks. Implications for theory, public policy, and educational research were drawn from the analysis. (Author/MJL)

An analysis of data on teachers indicates coming changes in recruitment and retention of the American teaching force, in the quality of teachers, and in the attractiveness of teaching as a profession. New recruits to teaching are less academically qualified than those who are leaving, and shortages of qualified teachers in subjects such as mathematics and science are expected to grow into a more generalized teacher shortage. Teachers' salaries fall far below those of other professions. Lack of input into professional decision making, overly restrictive bureaucratic controls, and inadequate administrative supports for teaching contribute to teacher dissatisfaction and attrition, particularly among the most highly qualified members of the teaching force. Professionalizing teaching will require a new career structure in which improved preparation and professionally enforced standards of practice are combined with increased responsibility for technical decision making by competent teachers. Upgrading teacher compensation and creating more professional working conditions are part of a structural solution, one that addresses the interrelated causes of the teacher supply and quality problems, rather than merely their symptoms. (JD)

The impact of the Health Professions Educational Assistance Act of 1976 (P.L. 94-484) on the supply of physicians for the armed services was assessed. As background to the survey findings, information is presented on conditions of three federal programs and differences in their benefit structures and implications for program participation. These programs are the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program (AFHPSP) of the Department of Defense (DOD), the National Health Service Corps (NHSC) scholarships of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, and the Federal Loan Insurance Program. The 1977 survey of a sample of first and second year medical students evaluated their preferences regarding the alternative financing methods, using the conditional logit model to simulate future choices. The demographic variables included race, sex, marital status, and family contribution, and policy variables included the discounted present value of income in each life-cycle period. Attention is directed to implications of the results for current and future anticipated changes in AFHPSP participation, given no program changes, and cost effective program changes to attain a goal of about 1,200 physicians per year. The results suggest that the DOD will fall short of its requirements for medical AFHPSP accessions by about 400 per year after 1978 if there were full NHSC funding for all its qualified applicants. The analysis suggests that increasing service compensation by about $7,500 (1978 dollars) would eliminate the shortfall and will probably be more cost effective than offering a stipend beyond that offered by NHSC. Adjustment strategies for the AFHPSP program benefits are outlined, and a sample questionnaire and description of the survey procedures are appended. (SW)

Demographic and socioeconomic changes are reshaping the fortunes of small communities and pose policy issues. Such communities find it especialy difficult to deal with rapid growth or decline, or a switch from one to the other. Small communities now enjoy greater autonomy, but at the cost of reduced federal aid. Freed from federal mandates, each community has been thrown far more on its own resources to manage its own growth or decline. For each situation there are separate questions. For rapidly growing communities: How much local population growth is desirable? Are growth and its effects predictable? How much will growth cost, who should pay for it, and how? For declining communities: How can local facilities and services be scaled down in an orderly fashion? How are cutbacks to be decided, and which services are to be reduced for whom? For all communities: Are there predictable changes in service demands as population changes, or as types of residents change? What type of economic growth is best? How should communities equip themselves to plan for, and adjust to, change? One useful role for a rural development strategy for the 1980's would be to assist state and local governments in finding answers to these questions. (Author/BRR)

The nature of adolescent sexuality, pregnancy and childbearing is undergoing important transformations that have made early parenthood more visible and problematic. A review of the literature confirms that adolescent pregnancy is far from a random event. Research indicates differences, often substantial, among those who have sex or abstain and their responses to pregnancy. There is strong evidence that those who avoid pregnancy during adolescence will acquire more of the education needed to realize full potential as a self-sufficient adult. Adolescents need support in combatting the effects of peer influence and in defining career goals which might motivate them to avoid pregnancy. Provision of services by the school or community might also help reduce the negative aspects of adolescent parenthood. (JAC)

This document gives the findings and recommendations of a study designed to identify interventions which can reduce the criminality of chronic juvenile offenders. The findings presented should be of interest to researchers and practitioners who are attempting to devise methods of reducing the crimes of chronic offenders that are more effective and humane than incarceration. The executive summary discusses the ineffectiveness of rehabilitation programs and the problem of chronic offenders who begin their careers as juveniles. The document includes sections on: (1) predictors of chronic criminal behavior including crime causation theories and integrating predictive factors with delinquency theories; (2) assessment of risk including criminal patterns and predicting chronic criminality; (3) legal aspects of rehabilitation and prevention programs; (4) effective approaches in rehabilitation programs including alternatives to training schools and post-program contacts; (5) effective prevention programs in preschools and public schools, and parent training techniques; and (6) the economic benefits to offenders and society of early intervention. Policy implications are discussed. A six-page reference list is included. (ABL)

This document analyzes the sentencing of young adult defendants in comparison with older adult and younger juvenile offenders, and disputes prior research which held that young adults received more lenient sentencing, perhaps because of the restrictions on disclosing juvenile delinquency histories. The document presents data from samples of young males arrested for armed robbery or residential burglary in Los Angeles County, California; Clark County, Nevada; and King County, Washington. Results of data analysis are presented which indicate that: (1) no evidence of consistent leniency towards young adult offenders was found; (2) both juveniles and young adults with extensive records were sentenced more severely than those with lighter records; (3) the availability of prior records did not guarantee such records would have an effect; (4) consideration of juvenile records only at sentencing may provide adequate discrimination between chronic and occasional offenders; and (5) juvenile arrest charges not resulting in a finding of delinquency are often used to represent the defendant's criminality. Sections of the document discuss origins of the "undue leniency" belief, juvenile records as sentencing data, and differences in disposition patterns of youthful offenders. Reference tables, research design, and references are appended. (ABL)

This document examines three important national surveys that provide periodic longitudinal data on the transition to adulthood during the late 1960s and 1970s: (1) the Parnes Young Men and Women Panels, initiated in 1966 and 1968; (2) the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, initiated in 1968; and (3) the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. Section I of this paper provides an introduction to the three datasets and describes two projects in the Rand Corporation Labor and Population Program which build on the complementarities of these datasets. Section II outlines the special characteristics of each survey that affect the construction of appropriate cohorts for comparison and compares them on such background characteristics as age at survey, race and parental education. Section III presents the constructions of the four measures of life-cycle progress: first marriage, leaving the parental home, school enrollment, and military service. Section IV shows how the four measures compare across surveys. Section V discusses the results and their implications for the complementary use of these datasets and for the prospective collection of information on life-cycle transitions. Background tables are appended and references are given. (NRB)

A project was designed to identify factors that predispose young women to choose and remain in sex-atypical jobs in the military and in civilian firms. Data were from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth Labor Market Behavior, a longitudinal study with annual interviews from 1979 through 1983 of youth between the ages of 14 and 21 in the first year. Two central hypotheses were that a woman who expects to allocate more time to the home is more likely to expect intermittent labor force participation and therefore selects a typically female occupation and that marital and child-bearing expectations will affect gender typicality of a woman's, but not of a man's, occupational choice. These hypotheses were confirmed. Higher ability women were more likely to plan labor force participation. Coming from a female-headed household increased daughters' labor force commitment and the chances they would choose traditionally male occupations. Little support was found for the hypotheses that being in a job traditional for one's sex affects turnover. Results showed general support for the hypotheses that the greater the mismatch between job characteristics and the individual's characteristics, the higher the probability of turnover and that the less attractive the job, the higher the probability of turnover. A nine-page bibliography concludes the document. (YLB)

This report examines the Chicago Area Project (CAP), the first community-based delinquency prevention program, from both a historical and a contemporary perspective. The analysis is in three parts. The first part describes CAP's founding in the 1930s and analyzes the process through which it was established and the operation of its prevention programs. The second part examines the operation of the CAP program in South Chicago in 1980, in light of assumptions derived from the historical analysis of the salient features of CAP philosophy and practice. Both parts focus on the ways CAP was implemented and the implications these ways may have had for its success, or lack of success, in preventing delinquency. The third part of the analysis combines census data with data on delinquency rates and data on program participation and operations to develop a rudimentary quantitative method to enlarge upon and with which to make a preliminary validation of earlier analyses. (Author/KH)

This study of "successful" teachers' microcomputer-based mathematics and science instruction had three objectives: (1) to describe how teachers who were nominated by their peers as "successful" microcomputer-using teachers use the technology for instruction; (2) to describe how these uses vary as a function of teacher characteristics and district, school, and classroom contexts; and (3) to make recommendations based on these teachers' suggestions for educating teachers in the instructional uses of microcomputers and for developing courseware that serves teachers' pedagogical aims. Sections in the report after the introduction include: theoretical framework, method, patterns of microcomputer-based instruction, teachers' attitudes and knowledge and teaching contexts, staff development for microcomputer-based instruction, characteristics of teacher-friendly courseware, and conclusions and recommendations. A bibliography is included. (MNS)

This study of patterns of microcomputer-based instruction in elementary and secondary schools had three objectives: (1) to describe how teachers who were nominated by their peers as "unusually successful" in their microcomputer-based mathematics and science teaching use technology for instruction; (2) to describe how these uses vary as a function of teacher characteristics and other background variables; and (3) to recommend policies for educating teachers in the instructional uses of microcomputers and for devising courseware that serves pedagogical aims. A total of 60 teachers--40 elementary and 20 secondary--in 25 districts and 49 schools in the state of California were interviewed. Schools varied in the number of microcomputers available for instruction (1 to 55, with an average of about 12), and in the resources they provided for microcomputer-based instruction. Based on 16 variables of instructional characteristics underlying microcomputer-based instruction, four homogeneous clusters of teachers were identified: orchestration (N=18), enrichment (N-23), adjunct instruction (N=14), and drill and practice (N=5). Analysis of the data indicates that, although teacher attitudes toward microcomputers were not related to the patterns of microcomputer-based instruction that were identified, all teachers held uniformly positive attitudes. Teacher knowledge about microcomputers was also unrelated to the average amount of coursework taken in mathematics, but the amount of science taken as an undergraduate did reflect positively on instructional use. Recommendations are presented for staff development and the characteristics of teacher-friendly courseware are discussed. Appendices include the interview guides and questionnaires used as well as discussions of methodological considerations and modes of microcomputer-based instruction. A list of references completes the document. (JB)

This document, a companion report to a detailed investigation into school districts' teacher selection processes, presents detailed case studies conducted in six different school districts: (1) Mesa Unified School District (Arizona); (2) Montgomery County Public Schools (Maryland); (3) East Williston Union Free School District (New York); (4) Hillsborough County Public Schools (Florida); (5) City School District of Rochester (New York); and (6) Durham County School System (North Carolina). Each case study contains information regarding the geographical area, demographic characteristics, and general make-up or organization of the school district, the policy context, the teacher selection process, and factors that influence the shaping and implementation of policies and practices within the district. (CB)

This report presents the findings on the long-term economic progress of American blacks. The report consists of seven sections. The first is a general introduction. Section 2 describes major changes in the racial wage gap for males from 1940 to 1980 and identifies the distribution of wage gains among important subgroups in the black population. Section 3 describes differential racial trends in schooling and the income benefits associated with education. Section 4 deals with the influence of two dimensions of geographic location: black migration to the North and the increasing urbanization of the black population. The extent to which education and place of residence "explain" trends in black-white wage ratios are summarized in Section 5. Section 6 discusses the implications of three historical developments in recent black economic history: the invention of the mechanical cotton picker, the declining workforce participation rates of low-income blacks during the 1970s, and affirmative action. The final section speculates about likely future trends in the racial wage gap. The 40-year record clearly points to a large improvement in the relative economic status of black men. Although black poverty persists, a large black middle class has emerged. The largest wage improvements were found among younger blacks and college-educated blacks. Education has helped significantly to close the income gap, particularly through the narrowing of education disparities between the races and the improved economic return to black schooling. (KH)

Research was conducted to determine: (1) what school districts and schools do to encourage teachers to gain proficiency and use microcomputers in their teaching; (2) how teachers' microcomputer-based teaching practices respond to the actions of districts and schools; and (3) which district and school activities have the greatest incentive value for each of these outcomes. Data were analyzed from an earlier study which described how teachers believed to be "successful" microcomputer users used computers for instruction of mathematics or science at the elementary or secondary level. The final sample consisted of 65 teachers in 49 schools and 25 districts; two-thirds of the teachers taught sixth grade or lower and 52% were female. Results indicate that adequate technical support is the most important determinant of increased integration of microcomputers into regular instruction; in addition, more varied microcomputer use was found when the teacher had a voice in selecting courseware for acquisition by the district. Preliminary findings also suggest that policies and incentives other than technical support play an influential role in stimulating teacher participation, e.g., "intrinsic" incentives, (a computer set aside for teacher experimentation), and "extrinsic" incentives (the possibility of a promotion and a pay raise). Finally, few significant relationships were found between teacher and student variables with support and incentives, on the one hand, and with teaching practices, on the other. A list of references is provided. (JB)

Research was conducted to assess the role of staff development in improving the quality of computer-based instruction in grade K-12 schools. The sample consisted of contact persons in 171 districts and interviews were completed with 155 (91%). Results indicate 80% of these districts currently provide inservice computer training to teachers; the median amount available is 25 hours. Most also provide technical assistance to teachers with hardware problems (95%), locating and evaluating courseware (80%), and integrating the microcomputer into the curriculum (65%). The median number of microcomputers found in these districts is 35, or a ratio of two microcomputers per five teachers and three microcomputers per 100 students. Incentives for participation in computer inservice training are not common: the most common are commendations or publicity (47%), release time for classes (41%), salary credit (36%), and guaranteed access to microcomputers (35%). The most important incentive was among those least commonly found in this sample--a guarantee of computer access. It was found that traditional incentives dispensed by administrators to teachers have little effect in fostering teacher involvement with computers and distinctions between "extrinsic" incentives such as salary credit and "intrinsic" incentives such as professional recognition did not prove to be conceptually or empirically important. A bibliography is appended. (JB)

This report examines, from a historical perspective, the desirability of teaching as a career. It focuses first on the reward structure in teaching, and second on the social origins and composition of the teaching force. The goals of the study are to lay out the rough chronological boundaries of several notable long-term trends and to isolate vital information and apparent major historical transition points to guide future case-study research. Section I introduces and provides an overview of key issues raised in the study. Section II examines the evolution of financial incentives for teachers, from approximately 1910 to the present, focusing particularly on the appeal of economic rewards to different constituencies. Section III analyzes changes in the social origins and composition of the teaching force, focusing on gender, social class, and academic preparation and qualifications. Finally, section IV selectively reviews recent developments and elaborates on some of their policy implications for raising professional standards and overcoming the developing teacher shortage. The report concludes that the women's movement appears to have opened up new prospects for the professionalization of teaching. Eight pages of references are appended. (MLF)

The purpose of this report is to develop a strategy for improving both national and state forecasts of future attrition rates. A theory of teacher attrition is developed that attempts to account for the disparate reasons for attrition, and to explain the patterns of attrition unique to each life cycle and career stage. Existing literature on teacher attrition and present attrition patterns from several states are selectively reviewed for the purpose of testing hypotheses derived from the theory of teacher attrition. Existing data available to support improved attrition models are reviewed, and recommendations are made for better use of these data. Finally, sampling and data collection strategies are identified that will improve the value of data collected in a future national survey. (JD)

The supply of traditional school of education graduates must be augmented to meet the demand for science and mathematics teachers. This report examines recent programmatic responses to breaking down institutional barriers. In most instances examined, special programs were designed to prepare mathematics and science teachers, and each program was targeted on a specific population such as retired persons, persons changing careers, or recent college graduates. The problems identified underscore the need to move teacher education to the graduate level. Descriptions are given of a number of special teacher preparation programs which are classified into three categories: (1) nontraditional recruitment programs which provide potential teachers from nontraditional pools with course work and other requirements for certification in mathematics or science; (2) alternative certification programs, designed to prepare teachers to meet revised state certification requirements for entering teaching; and (3) retraining programs, designed to help teachers already trained in other fields to obtain endorsement or certification in mathematics or science. (JD)

This document is one of a series of studies that surveyed recruits to teaching drawn from nontraditional pools, such as retirees, homemakers, career switchers, and recent college graduates with mathematics and science degrees. The preparation programs for these prospective teachers are "nontraditional" in that they are designed specifically to prepare candidates who did not engage in undergraduate teacher preparation programs. The document gives detailed case studies of 10 of these nontraditonal programs. The emphasis is on the structure of the programs, the reasons for their initiation, the recruitment pools toward which they are targeted, and program requirements. (JD)

This report identifies the strategies that multiproblem urban school districts have used to make major improvements in recent years. A panel of experts familiar with urban school systems nominated over 30 candidate urban districts for study. The following districts were chosen for analysis: (1) Atlanta (Georgia); (2) Cincinnati (Ohio); (3) Memphis (Tennessee); (4) Miami (Florida); (5) Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania); and (6) San Diego (California). Data were drawn from intensive interviews conducted with local school and community leaders in the 1987-88 school year. The major findings include the need for a cooperative effort on the part of the school superintendent, the business community, the teachers' union, and the school board to perform the following tasks: (1) reach out and involve the larger community in educational issues; (2) make information about school needs, resources, and performance widely available; (3) forge communitywide agreement about improvement goals; and (4) subordinate the traditional roles of boards, administrators, and teachers to the larger imperative of systemwide improvement. The roles of the following participants in reform are discussed in detail: (1) school superintendent; (2) school board; (3) business and community leaders; (4) teachers and unions; (5) the media; (6) State and Federal governments; and (7) national foundations. A list of 18 references is appended. (FMW)

This document presents the four case studies that constituted the major sources for "Teacher Evaluation: A Study of Effective Practices" by the same authors. The study was undertaken to find teacher evaluation processes that produce information useful to school districts in helping teachers improve or in making personnel decisions. The four school districts selected for case studies represent diverse teacher evaluation processes and organizational environments: Salt Lake City, Utah; Lake Washington, Washington; Greenwich, Connecticut; and Toledo, Ohio. Indepth findings from each case study are discussed, including reasons for selection of that particular district and such topics as policy context, organizational setting, and the teacher evaluation system on paper and in practice. In the first study (Salt Lake City), pertinent information is also provided about the cultural context (the Mormons) and its relationship to the system of shared governance in the district. Despite differences in form, the four districts follow certain common practices in teacher evaluation: (1) providing top-level leadership and institutional resources for the evaluation process; (2) ensuring that evaluators have the necessary expertise; (3) faciltating collaboration between administrators and teachers; and (4) making evaluation and support systems compatible with each other and with the district's overall goals. (TE)

The influence of two sources of individual differences in acquiring knowledge from maps was studied: abilities and learning procedures. Twenty-five undergraduate students provided verbal protocols while attempting to learn two maps, and six effective learning procedures were identified: partitioning, imagery, memory-directed sampling, pattern encoding, relation encoding, and evaluation. Visual spatial ability was highly correlated with recall of spatial attributes of the map and with overall learning performance, while associative memory ability was most correlated with verbal attribute recall. Subject-selected procedures for encoding spatial information and assessing learning progress also distinguished the behavior of successful and less successful learners. However, subjects of high and low ability differed little in the study procedures they chose. Although both ability differences and procedures were important contributors to performance, a direct comparison indicated that abilities are most predictive of map learning. It was concluded that the use of effective study procedures can influence map learning performance and that high-ability subjects benefit more from the use of these procedures than low-ability subjects. This report includes 27 references and an appendix detailing learning procedures observed in the protocols. (LMM)

A conceptual framework that provides a mechanism for anticipating the worth and potential success of staff development activities, in advance of their implementation, is described. In the first section, descriptions are given of the four main components of the staff development framework: defining staff development, salient organizational features, participants' roles, and an evaluation perspective. A description is given of the roles of key participants in staff development: the planners, providers, recipients, and evaluators. Section II provides a full discussion of each of the dimensions, its conditions, and their interrelationships. Section III illustrates the use of the conceptual framework for appraising the value of proposed staff development activities. Several typical staff development activities are analyzed to show the use of the framework for forward-looking evaluation. The concluding section briefly discusses research and policy issues arising from the application of the framework to staff development activities. (JD)

A study assessed the potential development of service sectors in different cities throughout the country and compared the results of growth in these and other sectors with respect to their effects on (1) total employment; (2) the geographic dispersion of metropolitan employment; (3) central city fiscal capacity; (4) metropolitan cyclical stability; and (5) minority business opportunities and local labor markets. During the study, researchers examined the distribution of jobs by sector and type of labor and used census data to assess the quality of jobs provided by different sectors. Based on this examination, researchers concluded that service sector growth is no panacea for the problems of cities. The survey data indicated that conventional rules of thumb such as the one stating that the medical and health services sectors hire larger numbers of minority group members than do the average sector in any given city simply do not hold true upon actual research. Therefore, city planners who frequently make use of such rules of thumb should be cautioned that no good substitute exists for city-specific analysis of how sectoral development strategies will reduce structural unemployment. Furthermore, the results of this study indicate that while some service sectors do seem to offer more opportunities for upward mobility than do areas such as durable goods manufacturing, others offer few or none. (This technical report includes 12 tables detailing the distribution of labor types and employee educational levels across cities and sectors.) (MN)

VisionQuest is one of the largest and most controversial private sector corrections programs designed to handle serious juvenile offenders in the country. Most chronic delinquents referred to VisionQuest by the juvenile court had failed under prior placements and were candidates for commitment to the California Youth Authority. VisionQuest programs consisted of rustic wilderness camps, wagon trains, and extended sailing and bicycling expeditions. All programs emphasized physical conditioning, accountability for one's actions, and overcoming personal and physical challenges. In 1981, the San Diego Juvenile Court began placing delinquents in VisionQuest; this placement was opposed by the San Diego County Probation Department. A study was conducted to determine why the court and the Probation Department held such divergent views on the potential risks and benefits of the program and to examine how recidivism rates for VisionQuest graduates compared with those of comparable youth from other programs. This document reports the findings of the VisionQuest evaluation and contains an introduction and sections on the history and characteristics of the San Diego VisionQuest program; the evaluation design and data sources; characteristics of the program sample; differences in post-release criminal behavior; and conclusions and directions for the future. (NB)

As a basis for developing guidelines for educational courseware development and for teacher education in the instructional uses of microcomputers, this study was planned to examine relationships among 60 successful computer-using teachers' attitudes toward computers, their knowledge of the subject matter taught, and their uses of microcomputers for instruction. Preliminary results indicate that districts vary greatly in microcomputer implementation, although little variability in implementation strategies has been found among principals. Almost all principals favor instructional use of microcomputers and give teachers much of the responsibility for expanding the school computer program, although few principals have much microcomputer-related knowledge. Teachers coordinate computer uses with other instructional materials and with the curriculum, though the type or degree of coordination varies for different reasons. Three phenomena seem to characterize successful integration of computers in instruction: individualized assignments, group computer activities, and teachers' examination of feedback on students' computer activities. Microcomputers are more likely to be integrated into ongoing instruction--and used in different ways--when they are inside or directly accessible to classrooms. Elementary schools are more apt to put microcomputers inside classrooms, while secondary schools frequently favor lab type arrangements. However, differences among teachers seem most prominent in how computers are used for instruction. Courseware knowledge rather than hardware and programming knowledge appears most important for teachers who wish to vary modes of instruction and student grouping, and to match courseware to individual students. (LMM)