In the complex world of educational policy, causal inferences will be debated. As we review non-experimental designs in educational policy, we focus on how to clarify and focus the terms of debate. We begin by presenting the potential outcomes/counterfactual framework and then describe approximations to the counterfactual generated from the…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) has had several tangible effects on education and the monitoring of education. There have been both intended and unintended consequences. ESEA's newer generation of federal programs, such as Race to the Top, and the recent ESEA flexibility guidelines, have continued to push development of methods…

Although knowledge has been linked to productivity within and between organizations, little is known about how knowledge flows into schools and then diffuses from teacher to teacher within schools. Here, the authors hypothesize that the value of different sources of knowledge depends on a teacher's current level of implementation. The authors test…

School accountability is subject to considerable scrutiny. It generates sharp political debate, policy challenges, and continuous discussion. Growth models are now a part of that discussion. To many practitioners the sheer volume of "important to know" information is daunting. The members of the Technical Issues in Large Scale Assessment…

This paper provides an explanation for the nonspecificity of emotion inferences found in previous research [e.g., Language and Cognitive Processes, 19(5), 613-638, 2004]. We first demonstrate that behavioral components of emotions, as opposed to emotions per se, are better markers of readers' mental representations of the main character's…

This article addresses the application of the assessment triangle developed by the National Research Council (Pellegrino, Chudowsky, & Glaser, 2001), most specifically the cognition vertex of that triangle, to the unique learning characteristics of students with significant cognitive disabilities in developing and demonstrating academic…

Discussion of relevance in information retrieval focuses on manifestations of relevance within a system of relevance. Discusses intention, context, inference, and interaction; explains the concepts of affective, motivational, situational, and socio-cognitive relevance; and proposes a consolidated model of relevance manifestations. (Author/LRW)

Selectively reviews influences on young children's word learning. Analyzes difficulties with the "constraint" concept in examining word learning. Concludes that the effect of so-called constraints cannot be separated from a wide range of cognitive and contextual influences on children's inferences about novel word meanings. Offers…

In 2 experiments, 261 middle school students processed an analogy and responded to factual and inferential target-domain questions in a study of variables that contribute to the formation of analogical misconceptions. Results of both experiments support a six-variable model of analogical misconception formation. (SLD)