Engaging with primary researchers during qualitative secondary analysis is a practice much recommended but rarely written about. In this article, I reflect on my experience of crossing an imagined boundary between the discrete textual dataset and its creators, of acknowledging and engaging with those researchers who invested in constructing the…

In the United States, increased pressure through accountability policy and through the production and dissemination of scientifically based research are intended to create conditions for improving research use. Concurrently, researchers, education agencies, and funders have mounted efforts to strengthen relationships between research and…

Triangulation strategy results in evidence characterized by the following: (1) convergence; (2) inconsistency; and (3) contradiction. In order to render the data sensible, the researcher or evaluator must report data collection procedures, as well as the three levels of information from which explanations of social phenomena are constructed. (BJV)

The current high-stakes accountability environment has created strong incentives for educators to systematically collect and use data to inform instructional decisions. This article examines the strategies employed by three urban school districts to promote data use for instructional improvement and their effect on administrator, principal, and…

In this volume, researchers, practitioners, participants, and scholars address the proliferation of methodologies, ethical and disciplinary concerns, and issues of equity and diversity such research raises from a wide variety of viewpoints. "Acts of Inquiry in Qualitative Research" also presents a broad assortment of articles by authors…

This literature review discusses the need for rehabilitation organizations to become culturally competent and for rehabilitation research to reach and be utilized by minority populations. Sections address the incidence of disability in minority populations, the socially constructed nature of race, culture, and disability, cultural power and the…

The Collaboration for the Improvement of Teacher Education (CITE) Project, now beginning its third year, consists of a blocked semester of three courses--curriculum and methods, social aspects of teaching, and measurement and evaluation--and the related field experience activities occurring at the pre-student teaching level. Approximately 120…

This study aimed to describe, compare, and analyze the use of specific types of data utilized in decision-making by administrators of more and less effective community colleges. The study utilized a modified version of Kim Cameron's "Assessment of Organizational Effectiveness on Higher Education" to measure and rank community college…

Data from nine Michigan elementary, middle, and high schools highlight the challenges and common strategies found in the use of student assessment data to meet public demands for accountability. The information gathered from assessment tools varies by frequency and type. Educators have, historically, underutilized data to guide practice because…

A discussion of survey methodology for investigating second language programs and instruction examines two methods: oral interviews and written questionnaires. Each method is defined, and variations are explored. For interviews, this includes individual, group, and telephone interviews. For questionnaires, this includes self-administered and…

Analyzes the use of relevant international data to inform educational policy. Notes that such data can be used to extend research on school effects by incorporating comparative data, by evaluating the trade-offs involved in attempts to raise national achievement levels, and by broadening the range of international data. (MJP)

Basic issues concerning interpretive research, and theories and methods of using interpretive research to study teaching are discussed. The concept of interpretive research may also be known as ethnographic, qualitative, participant observational, case study, symbolic interactionist, phenomenological, or constructivist. Interpretive research…

Discusses issues relating to the reliability, validity, utility, and information value of unobtrusive testing of library reference services; provides suggestions for practical applications of these criteria; applies study findings to library decision making and planning; and identifies topics for further methodological refinement. (Author/CLB)

The Community College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CCSEQ) is an instrument designed to determine how community college students spend their time and what quality of effort they put into learning. Specifically, the content of the questionnaire focuses on four elements: who students are and why they are at the college; how extensively and…

The Community College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CCSEQ) is designed to determine how community college students spend their time and the quality of effort that they put into the learning process. This updated manual describes elements of the CCSEQ and presents findings from 56 community colleges that have administered the questionnaire as…