Qualitative research (QR) has gained visibility and acceptance in the field of special education due to early efforts to identify quality indicators focused on technical and methodological aspects of QR. Whereas these indicators focused on credibility and trustworthiness of data, this article articulates additional QR quality indicators to enhance…

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Standards Briefs explain the rules the WWC uses to evaluate the quality of studies for practitioners, researchers, and policymakers. An aspect of a study is considered a confounding factor if it is not possible to tell whether the difference in outcomes is due to the intervention, the confounding factor, or both.…

Reviews of research in special education have a unique place in the scientific literature, with the potential to inform a broad audience about the effectiveness and acceptability of assessment and intervention strategies for a heterogeneous group of children and youth. Results from reviews are useful to school leaders, practitioners, parents,…

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evaluates research studies that look at the effectiveness of education programs, products, practices, and policies, which the WWC calls "interventions." Many studies of education interventions make claims about impacts on students' outcomes. Some studies have designs that enable readers to make causal…

A focus group of 49 teachers revealed that teachers do use research, but they seek it out under very specific conditions. They also use different criteria than researchers use to judge the quality of research. For teachers, important factors include an ethos of localized learning, a shortage of time, and the primacy of local context. Researchers…

The integration of emerging technologies in higher education presents a new set of challenges and opportunities for educators. With a growing need for customized lesson plans in online education, educators are rethinking the design and development of their learning environments. "Utilizing Virtual and Personal Learning Environments for…

By common consent there is a "gold standard" in reference to which the efficacy of medical interventions needs to be evaluated. It is suggested in this paper that in educational research achievement of this gold standard is rarely possible. It does not follow, however, that research that falls short of this standard is therefore valueless; there…

To examine trends in educational practice research, this article conducted a survey and analysis of factors affecting the review of research papers in the field of the educational technology in Japan. Two factors, namely, practical orientation and theoretical orientation, were extracted from 63 survey responses, and scores from members of a…

The tales we tell here focus on the ethical issues arising from our research practice with vulnerable young participants and those for whom research has been inextricably linked with European imperialism and colonialism. The importance of relational obligations, temporality and potential for a continuing narrative approach to ethical research…

The purpose of this article is to critically examine some stated discrepancies between qualitative and quantitative research by taking actual studies as a starting point. It is argued that in ordinary empirical research within psychology and education, both approaches should be considered based on critical realism, and that the ordinary validity…

There is a need for a set of organizing principles that will provide a clear rationale for the field of program evaluation. It is contended that the concept of evaluation promoted by Ralph W. Tyler, pioneer in the field, suggests such a set of principles. Data were derived from a two-year prescriptive case study of Tyler's contributions through…

How best to prepare beginning tachers and what is meant by an adequately prepared teacher are issues that directly influence the structure and practice of teacher preparation programs. A critical review of recent research (1978-1988) on social studies methods classes, examined those with a focus on overall course design and those that focus on a…

Examines the influence of perceived parental expectations on Chinese children's school performance in mathematics. (HOD)

The article demonstrates how single-subject research methodology can be used to demonstrate educational validity of programs for severely disabled learners through the incorporation of the criteria of internal validity, educational integrity, and empirical and social validity. (CB)

Single-subject research designs are not sufficient to determine educational validity which requires systematic attention to larger issues of meaningfulness in relationship to criterion environments. A more comprehensive evaluative framework ensures that services and practices for severely disabled persons will be guided by research findings as…