Senior Project is a culminating assessment for 12th graders that determines what they know and can do as they prepare to graduate from high school in North Carolina. It consists of a research paper on an approved topic of the students choice, a product and portfolio related to the paper, and a presentation before a review panel of community…

An approach to research that was conceptualized with the idea of replicating one study in dozens of locations simultaneously is described, focusing on two research projects with simultaneous replication. In 1988 researchers in 85 locations collected data in 276 schools as part of the Phi Delta Kappa Study of Schools At Risk. In 1982, data were…

This paper delineates the purposes of a symposium that was based on a major study of the California School Improvement Program (SIP). The problem of increasing the capacity of schools to implement reform efforts is conceptualized. To explore this issue, a conceptual framework was developed, based on the case study and survey data from the first…

Initial difficulties in the process of teaching 6 first-grade teachers to use reciprocal teaching in their classes, and the disappointing outcomes of the instruction, led researchers to several conclusions. Researchers realized that the beliefs teachers held about the nature of knowledge and the process of knowledge acquisition had a powerful role…

Proposes the establishment of a Research Foundation for Open Learning, and reflects on the Open University's achievements and the need for change. (Author/AEF)

A computerized system on faculty research interests and activities, which was developed by an academic health sciences center, is described. The objective of the information system is to better match faculty capabilities with potential funding opportunities. The case study is designed to assist other institutions by outlining the characteristics…

An interactive research and development (IR&D) project brings together teachers, university researchers, and staff development specialists as a team to identify, research, and disseminate findings from questions of interest to teachers. Six major features of an interactive IR&D project are: (1) teams having at least one teacher, one researcher,…

This paper describes research conducted to evaluate a program designed to meet the needs of Asian Limited English Proficient (LEP) students in the School District of Philadelphia. The program was the result of a negotiated settlement in a lawsuit filed against the school district in 1985, which alleged that the district was failing to meet the…

A three-year project was undertaken by the National Center for research in Vocational Education (Ohio State University, OH) to investigate time on task in vocational and technical classes. During the first year of the project, researchers used the direct observation method to collect time-on-task data pertaining to 10 teachers and 186 students in…