My research is rooted in improving K-12 educational practice using motivational facets made possible through adaptive tutoring systems. In an attempt to isolate best practices within the science of learning, I conduct randomized controlled trials within ASSISTments, an online adaptive tutoring system that provides assistance and assessment to…

Details the kinds of data and data sources used in "A Study of Schooling," the limitations of these data, examples of research questions explored, and the intentions of the researchers during analysis and interpretation of the data. (Author/IRT)

The Curriculum Assessment and Development Project in the Virginia Beach (Virginia) Public Schools is summarized. It was a comprehensive study involving students, parents, teachers, and administrators in considering two key curricular questions: "What kind of person do we want to produce?" and "What knowledge is of most worth?"…

An author of a paper (EC 602 060) that presents two causal models of learning disabilities comments on his interest in the research, how the research design developed, limitations of the research, and the need for replication with other disability groups. (JDD)

The goals of the National Assistive Technology Research Institute are discussed, as well as ongoing research projects that address the status of school-based assistive technology (AT), AT policies and procedures, AT decisions made by Individualized Education Program teams, integration of AT into learning environments, effectiveness of AT, and…

Active research can be one area of enrichment in which counselors may gain personal growth, self-discipline, and personal development. The developer of the research project also gains in knowledge and practice in the specific areas of information retrieval systems. The counselor becomes aware of the methodology used in the preparation of a…

The authors' thesis is that educational research responds to external social and policy events rather than creates them. They attempt to forecast external developments in Scotland which will affect research and highlight the trend toward collaborative research. (SJL)

Efforts to achieve greater decentralization, deregulation, and management by objectives in the public sector have left an indelible mark on the school sector in Sweden during the 1980s. The experimental scheme of local agencies and free municipalities illustrates two such reforms. Under the free municipality experiment, a number of municipalities…

Presents an empirically derived model of school district decision making during recruitment into school health research projects, illustrating how sound research practices can be enhanced by applying systematic procedures to the recruitment and retention of schools. The article discusses how successful recruitment addresses political, economic,…

The Prince George's County Public School District is a multiculturally diverse district in Maryland serving a heterogeneous population of students, most of whom are black (70.3%) and many of whom qualify for free or reduced-price meals (40%). The school system welcomes the opportunity to participate in research projects, but has acknowledged its…

The development of the research design for studying curriculum in the "A Study of Schooling" research project involved four problem areas. Defining and conceptualizing curriculum and how it works in different educational settings was a difficult, unwieldy task. Operationalizing the conceptual framework for studying curriculum so that…

As a part of the teacher licensure program at the graduate level at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), the M.Ed. Licensure candidate is required to complete an action research project during a 3-semester-hour course that coincides with the 9-semester-hour student teaching experience. This course, Education 590 Culminating…

The School Reform Assessment (SRA) project began in 1987 with the objective of developing indicators of student coursework that reliably and validly measure this central feature of schooling, while remaining sensitive to major policy changes and the information needs of policymakers, and efficiently collecting and reporting data. This paper…

The federally supported Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) Program provides a minimum of $50,000 to local schools to engage in a comprehensive change process facilitated by the development and adoption of a comprehensive school reform plan, including technical assistance from an external model developer. This report summarizes the…

This essay focuses on a key change that the author has experienced in the practice of program evaluation research over the past 20 years: the accommodation of the logic of science and the psychology of politics. This change has substantially altered the role of the evaluator, the evaluator's relationship with clients, the design of an evaluation…