Budget Control in Virginia Public School Districts

This article examines the selection and use of a budget approval technique. Specifically, two research questions are addressed: (1) Does the use of a particular budget approval method by a governmental body impact the execution of the budget? (2) What characteristics of a local government are associated with its decision to use a particular budget approval method? Both research questions are addressed by analyzing data from public school systems in the Commonwealth of Virginia, specifically, whether using categorical budget approval differs in the accuracy of budgeting versus using a lump-sum approval method. Characteristics of Virginia school districts are also analyzed according to whether any of them are likely to be associated with school districts using a particular approval method. The remainder of this article is organized as follows: the next section describes the role of budgeting control in schools; subsequent sections review Virginia school district budgeting practices, develop the empirical model used to test the hypotheses, describe the sample, analyze the results of empirical tests and discuss implications of the findings.     

Moderating effects of adolescent social orientation on the relation between social support and self-esteem

The study assessed whether the impact of social support on self-esteem is moderated by the adolescent's orientation toward the source of aid. Questionnaires were administered to 84 Israeli adolescents regarding self-esteem, perceived level of support from parents and peers, and preference, or orientation, for support from these sources. Regression analyses indicated that the positive effect of social figures' support on self-esteem increased as a function of interest in receiving aid from the specific source. Correlational analyses also revealed that heightened orientation toward parents was associated with higher levels of perceived parental support, whereas heightened orientation toward peers was associated with higher levels of peer support and lower levels of parental aid. These findings were consistent with self-evaluation maintenance and social provision theories, which suggest that the individual has an active role in selectively seeking out and filtering external social influences.His doctorate in educational psychology is from UCLA. Current research interests include stress and coping across the life span, social sources of adolescent self-esteem, and intergroup relations in the junior high school.Her doctorate in clinical psychology is from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Her research interests include family relations, social and emotional development in children and adolescents, and developmental psychopathology.Her research interests focus on social support in the family.     

The impact of puberty and dating on eating problems among middle school girls

Puberty has been related to the onset of a variety of weight concerns and eating problems among middle school girls, including body dissatisfaction, dieting, and eating disorders. At least two models can be used to explain these relationships. The first emphasizes the timing of puberty, arguing that girls who face early puberty are particularly stressed because of the off-time nature of the event. The second focuses on synchronous events. For girls more than boys, puberty is likely to coincide with the change from elementary to middle school and/or beginning to date. Such synchronous events may create greater stress for girls. Seventy-nine girls were tested during the spring of their sixth- and eighth-grade years. Pubertal and dating status, body dissatisfaction, weight management, and eating disordered attitudes (using the Children's EAT:ChEAT) were assessed. The simple timing model (early vs. on time vs. late) was not supported. The simple synchronous model received some support in that girls with synchronous onset of menstruation and dating had higher ChEAT scores as well as greater body dissatisfaction. However, the data indicated that girls for whom puberty was early and coincidental with dating might be at unusual risk. These girls showed the highest levels of body dissatisfaction and the highest ChEAT scores.Ph.D. from Temple University. Research interest is in developmental psychology.Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa BarbaraThese authors have a joint research program in the developmental psychopathology of eating problems.The first wave of data for this report was collected as part of her undergraduate honors thesis.Earlier versions of these data were presented at the 1991 meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development, Seattle, Washington and the 1992 Conference on Human Development, Atlanta, Georgia.     

The Single Audit Act of 1984: A Survey of Practitioners

The Single Audit Act of 1984 (SAA) attempted to strengthen Congress's control over disbursement and monitoring of federal funds intended for governmental and nonprofit entities. The SAA's primary agent of federal control is the auditor. This article examines the historical development of the SAA and discusses the results of a survey of auditors and accountants who are members of the Intergovernmental Auditing Forum. The survey addresses auditors' conception of the SAA and the auditor's role in achieving better control of federal disbursements.     

Exploring uniformity and variability in local electoral outcomes: Some evidence from English local elections 1985–1991

A detailed analysis of English local elections between 1985 and 1991 seems to support the propositions that a proportion of electors hold contradictory local and national voting preferences at one and the same time; and that there is significant variation in party performance both between and within local authorities. The paper concludes that the stimuli to which electors respond in local elections are often those most relevant to the ‘context’ in which their vote is cast. If partisan dealignment has led to a greater willingness on the part of the electorate to regard voting as a matter of ‘horses for courses’, there may not only be a further fragmentation in the results of elections of all kinds but the parties may experience different degrees of success depending on the nature of the contest.     

Species loss revisited

Among his books are The Economics of Population Growth; Effort, Opportunity, and Wealth;and Population Matters: People, Resources, Environment, and Immigration (the latter was published by Transaction).