For researchers seeking to improve education, a common goal is to identify teaching practices that have causal benefits in classroom settings. To test whether an instructional practice exerts a causal influence on an outcome measure, the most straightforward and compelling method is to conduct an experiment. While experimentation is common in…

An educational intervention's effectiveness is judged by whether it produces positive outcomes for students, with the randomized controlled trial (CRT) as a valuable tool for determining intervention effects. However, the intervention-as-implemented in an experiment frequently differs from the intervention-as-designed, making it unclear whether…

In February 2007, First 5 LA contracted with Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) and its subcontractors, Juarez and Associates, American Institutes for Research (AIR), and Berkeley Evaluation and Assessment Research (BEAR) Center, to conduct the First 5 LA/LAUP Universal Preschool Child Outcomes Study (UPCOS). The authors conducted the study…

An examination of the variation among educational programs in the Alum Rock Union Elementary School District, San Jose (California), during the fourth year of its educational voucher demonstration project addresses the issue of whether alternative systems can generate significant diversity in public school education. The research questions (How do…

This study assessed the perceptions of faculty employed by the historically black institutions of the University of North Carolina, concerning the personal utility of activities to increase their educational research participation or to gain educational research skills and knowledge. The study was part of a pilot project to develop strategies to…

To provide information that will facilitate the exchange of information between states and reduce duplication of effort, this report summarizes information received from State Research Coordinating Units (RCUs) regarding research activities conducted under section 131(b) of part C of the Vocational Education Amendments of 1968. This is the twelfth…

This study reports an attempt to provide research consultation to the staff of an operating manpower project in order to help them initiate and carry out utilization-related activities and, as a by-product of the consultation effort, to add to knowledge about research utilization and suggest ways of helping funding agencies improve their…

A study investigated the importance of reading specialists who work in schools identified as having exemplary reading programs and the roles and functions of these reading specialists. In stage 1 of this study, a 19-item survey questionnaire was sent to 111 school principals with exemplary reading programs, asking them about the reading…

A project was conducted to (1) determine how to install comprehensive career education programs on a districtwide basis when development and field testing have been completed, and (2) determine how to transport effective career education programs from school districts that have them to school districts that need them. Project objectives were met…

A fourth quarterly report completes one year of the Educational Policy Research Center's (EPRC) analysis and assessment of the Education Satellite Communication demonstration. Activities and accomplishments during the period April 11, 1975-July 10, 1975 are listed and described. The report also includes cost data from the Appalachian Educational…

This document summarizes and highlights the main findings of a large scale research project concerned with the problem of innovation dissemination in adult basic education (ABE) providing an abbreviated, non-technical account of the research and pointing up the implications of the findings for policy decision-making at the State and national…

A study examined 43 research projects conducted between FY89 and FY93 with funding under Section 353 of the Adult Education Act (AEA) grants and 4 additional research projects funded under other sections of the AEA. The project reports were collected by contacting each state literacy resource center, searching the ERIC system and a Division of…

This document addresses the first objective of a study to develop criteria to measure the effectiveness of vocational education demonstration projects. An introduction provides background to the project and the issue addressed here, namely the issue of interim and final acceptable evidence of project impact, including the criteria, documentation,…

This project established seven regional demonstration centers for the teacher training products known as minicourses, designed by the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development. The goals of these centers were identified as increased user awareness, the establishment of an environment in which educators could evaluate the…

Part of a special issue on organizational research utilization, this article analyzes two National Institute of Education programs--the Research and Development Utilization Program and the Experimental Schools Program--and finds that a key reason for nonutilization of research is the "policy vacuum" in which research is conducted.…