Using data strategically to guide decisions and actions can have a positive effect on education practices and processes. This facilitation guide shows education data teams how to move beyond simply reporting data to applying data to direct strategic action. Using guiding questions, suggested activities, and activity forms, this guide provides…

The best available evidence is one of the three critical features of evidence-based practice. Best available evidence is often considered to be synonymous with extremely high standards for research methodology. However, this notion may limit the scope and impact of evidence based practice to those educational decisions on which high quality…

In this article, the "researcher" narrates the issues faced by novice researchers in choosing the correct lenses to conduct research when searching for the truth via the use of qualitative methodology. It is argued that choosing an appropriate research approach and methodology can be described as an "arduous" journey. For the…

Most assessment arguments are about measurement. When is it better to use direct versus indirect measures of student learning? Is one standardized test of critical thinking better than another? Is applying rubrics to student work better than using standardized tests? How valid are self-reported measures of learning? Although these arguments are…

Methodological and political issues arise during the designing, conducting, and reporting of campus-climate studies for LGBT students. These issues interact; making a decision about a methodological issue (e.g., sample size) has an impact on a political issue (e.g., how well the findings will be received). Ten key questions that must be addressed…

This report is a product of an European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) Workshop "Assessing educational quality: Knowledge production and the role of experts" hosted by the Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT) in Oslo in February, 2008. The workshop gathered representatives from higher…

The research literature on screening and brief intervention (SBI) for unhealthy alcohol use is large and diverse. More than 50 clinical trials and 9 systematic reviews have been published on SBI in a range of healthcare settings, and via a variety of delivery approaches, in general practice, hospital wards, emergency departments, addiction…

In response to recent trends and legislation, the concept of implementing evidence-based practices has become a critical component of contemporary schooling. It is important that teachers and families of students with disabilities understand the role that qualitative research plays in determining whether a practice is in fact evidence based.…

In the last 10 years, there has been increased use of case study methodology, with accompanying refinement and improvement of the methods. Case studies have become legitimate research methods in evaluation, but it is too soon to say whether improvements in methodology are really resulting in improvements in the case studies conducted. (SLD)

The evidence-based practice (EBP) movement has the potential to significantly advance the quality of psychological and educational services provided by psychologists working in schools. Training psychologists in EBP has challenged the profession and caused faculty in graduate programs to reevaluate and retool professional training curricula and…

Thomas Jefferson recognized the value of reason and scientific experimentation in the eighteenth century. This chapter extends the idea in contemporary ways to standards that may be used to judge the ethical propriety of randomized trials and the dependability of evidence on effects of social interventions.

This article explores the utilization of qualitative methodologies in program evaluation, the rationale for using these approaches, and the potential qualitative applications within evaluation. It also describes the "scientific" and "artistic" qualitative methodologies, suggests practical qualitative application, and calls for…

There have been ongoing debates among educational researchers over the appropriateness of various research methods. This paper begins with the contention that these differences in methodological orientation are in large part reflections of the broader ideological and value convictions of the researchers themselves. A critical point to be made,…

The need for an increased use of statistical data and quantitative analysis in many areas of science policy is emphasized in this report of the hearing on science evaluation methods used in Great Britain. The testimony given by Professor Benjamin Martin of the Science Policy Research Unit at the University of Sussex in England explains how…