This paper argues that the dynamic model of educational effectiveness can be used to establish stronger links between educational effectiveness research (EER) and school improvement. It provides research evidence to support the validity of the model. Thus, the importance of using the dynamic model to establish an evidence-based and theory-driven…

Fierce competition, globalization, and technology innovation have forced software companies to search for new ways to improve competitive advantage. Web-based learning is increasingly being used by software companies as an emergent approach for enhancing the skills of knowledge workers. However, the current practice of Web-based learning is…

Background: Institutional theorists suggest environmental stakeholders in the "organizational field" have a symbiotic relationship with governing agencies, leading to institutional isomorphism. Hence state policy makers copy the work of their colleagues across states to create a sense of legitimacy, certainty, and professionalization…

This paper examines new approaches to program evaluation and explores their possible utility in Latin American educational settings. Part 1 briefly discusses why new ideas for evaluating educational studies are needed. Part 2 examines seven new evaluative approaches as follows: (1) "Concept Mapping," a type of structural…

This paper argues that the National Diffusion Network (NDN) is a valuable tool for disseminating information about effective school improvement programs (SIPs). It considers why SIPs are not found more frequently in the NDN and what can be done to remedy this situation, from the perspective of the executive secretary of the NDN Program…

Praises the efforts to develop a national standards for civics and government. However, discovers serious shortcomings in the current product. Claims that the current standards blur important distinctions and contain a number of factual errors. Recommends reducing the conceptual outlines and increasing illustrative cases and texts. (MJP)

Members of the Research and Development Exchange (RDx) agreed to collaborate in the development of a resource base on the identification and validation of promising educational programs, practices, and products. State activities in validation and state concerns about and recommendations concerning current nationally used processes are the subject…

Survey findings on state educational validation procedures show that of the 50 states surveyed, 45 have some form of established procedure for validation promising educational practices. Approximately two-thirds of the states that have validation programs employ either the Identification, Validation, Dissemination (IVD) procedure or some…

Members of the Research and Development Exchange agreed to collaborate in the development of a resource base on the identification and validation of promising educational programs, practices, and products. Part of that effort has been the development of a central file of resource materials on validation and the abstracting and indexing of those…

The Research and Development Exchange (RDx) is a network of regional educational laboratories and university-based research and development centers working to support state and local school improvement efforts. Initiated by the National Institute of Education in 1976, the RDx is composed of eight Regional Exchanges and four central support…

Intended for use by educators and the public, this report interprets the findings of two research studies on competency-based vocational education (CBVE) in Kentucky secondary schools: "The Development of an Instrument to Measure Student Attitudes toward Competency-Based Individualized Instructional Modules," by John C. Thomas, and…