A hallmark of efforts to implement the $862 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) is to be transparent and accountable about what the money is being spent on and what is being achieved. To help achieve these goals, recipients are to report every 3 months on their award activities and expected outcomes, among other…

The use of educational technology in K-12 classrooms has been gaining tremendous momentum across the country since the 1990s. Many school districts have been investing heavily in various types of technology, such as computers, mobile devices, internet access, and interactive whiteboards. Almost all public schools have access to the internet and…

In January 2009, in the last week of the Bush Administration, the U.S. Department of Education (ED), upon orders from the departing political appointee staff, published the final report in a long running National Evaluation of Upward Bound (UB). The study was conducted by the contractor, Mathematica Policy Research. After more than a year in…

The present review examines research on the effects of technology use on reading achievement in K-12 classrooms. Unlike previous reviews, this review applies consistent inclusion standards to focus on studies that met high methodological standards. In addition, methodological and substantive features of the studies are investigated to examine the…

A complete description of the development of a guide to help authors improve the quality of descriptive evaluation reports of federally funded programs is provided. Improvements in reports would be particularly useful to planners who must decide if and how programs should be modified. The methods and procedures employed in the development of the…

The National Center for Supported eText (NCSeT) has a research agenda designed to investigate the effects of supported electronic text on the ability of students with disabilities to read and learn from text. This article introduces four studies conducted by research teams who have collaborated with NCSeT to implement that agenda. It describes…

A major tenet of both the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the No Child Left Behind Act is the identification and use of evidence-based practices, or those instructional techniques shown by research as most likely to improve student outcomes meaningfully. However, much confusion exists regarding the meaning and potential…

Using evidence-based practices, or those instructional techniques shown by research to improve student outcomes meaningfully, increases the performance of students with disabilities and should therefore be a priority for special educators. But how does a practice come to be considered evidence based? The unique characteristics of group…

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.…

Volume I of the First Annual Report of the National Day Care Study (NDCS) funded by the Office of Child Development presents an overview of the NDCS study, the background of federal involvement in day care, the day care policy issues being addressed, an overview of the study design and phases, uses and limits of study findings, and the results of…

This paper reviews the following studies on the cost-effectiveness of the Chapter 1 compensatory education program: (1) Sustaining Effects Study; (2) Tallmadge Study; (3) the Kiesling Study for Rand; (4) Instructional Dimensions Study; (5) Response to Educational Needs Project Cost-Effectiveness Study; (6) Educational Testing Service/Ragosta…

Volume II of the First Annual Report of the National Day Care Study (NDCS) funded by the Office of Child Development presents the research design for Phase II of the study and includes a detailed technical discussion of the study's analytical and methodological issues. The NDCS, being conducted over a period of three years, is designed to answer…

This second annual report of the National Day Care Study (NDCS), a 3-year study funded by the Office of Child Development, describes the work of the NDCS during Phase II of the study (Sept. 1975 through Sept. 1976). The study was designed to answer policy questions concerning the effect of child ratio and other regulatable center characteristics…

Objectives of the Migrant Research Project, a pilot study funded by the Office of Economic Opportunity, were to obtain needed data about the migrant worker population and to develop instruments and research techniques for future studies. Thus, interviews were conducted with over 13,000 migrant families (representing almost 80,000 individuals) and…

This, the first biennial report to Congress by the Director, as required under The Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA), describes three goals that have guided the work of the Institute and provides an overview of progress through the end of 2004. It describes the major projects carried out within each center of the Institute over the past two…