In educational contexts where many domains subject to improvement are interdependent and causal evidence is frequently lacking it is difficult, if not impossible, for policymakers and educational practitioners to decide which domain should be invested in. This paper proposes a new method that uses Conditional Mean Independent Correlations (CMIC)…

The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory presents a primer for making educational decisions more systematic, containing a collection of (1) prescriptive guides for clarifying problems and objectives, (2) suggestions for identifying possible solutions, (3) criteria for judging solutions, (4) methods for measuring values, and (5) strategies for…

There are many misconceptions about how funding decisions are made within federal agencies. Observations of how bias creeps into an otherwise objective evaluation process are presented, and hints are offered on improving the probability of receiving federal support. (Author/MLW)

The National Institute of Education's (NIE) statement of procedures is presented that is used to determine which of the 17 existing regional educational laboratories and research and development (R&D) centers are ready for long-term special institutional agreements. Long-term agreements are defined as 5 years of NIE support. The statement…

The need for accountability in school psychological services is receiving increased attention. School psychologists are now being asked to demonstrate the effectiveness of their services. Data collection procedures can improve services to clients and systems, enhance the delivery system's psychological services program, validate the need for…

Small increases in research and development funding and the state of the economy pose serious challenges to research universities. It is unlikely that the financial pressures will moderate. Research universities will be challenged to downsize by restructuring resources without compromising their quality. (Author/MSE)

The product of nearly 20 years experience in the early childhood field, this book gives current and intending practitioners a better understanding of the nature of leadership in the early childhood profession and its effect on the professionalization of the field. It explores who is or can become a leader and why early childhood leaders are in a…

This report provides a conceptual framework for guiding decisions regarding the administrative delivery and course content of the freshman orientation seminar. The proposed framework relies heavily on empirical evidence generated by college-level research in the areas of student retention, student learning and academic achievement, and student…

The final report summarizes activities of a 3-year project which accomplished the following goals: (1) identification of the most pressing concerns in special education currently facing state and local education policymakers; (2) location of research information through the U.S. Department of Education and other sources which address these issues;…

This paper presents a functional approach to assessment and associated program development for individuals with severe disabilities, with emphasis on informal strategies that target beginning communicative levels. In the first section, form, function, and context (three components of any communicative act) are defined and described. Three…