This inquiry developed during the process of "quantitizing" qualitative data the authors had gathered for a mixed methods curriculum efficacy study. Rather than providing the intended rigor to their data coding process, their use of an intercoder reliability metric prompted their investigation of the multiplicity and messiness that, as they…

This paper evaluates current practices in curriculum design and discusses some proposals for using efficient Fisherian experimental designs to remedy certain shortcomings in current practices. Two general questions are approached in this paper: (1) how to obtain rational and empirical evidence that a basic curriculum under planning and development…

The purpose of an 8-week summer training institute was to provide 25 competent professional school personnel the necessary methodological skills to initiate, conduct, and report experiments on school learning and instruction. All trainees held administrative posts with responsibilities for curriculum research and development and/or instruction. A…

This document contains summaries of six courses presented at the Second Annual Presessions of the American Educational Research Association: (1) Bayesian statistical analysis, (2) curriculum research and evaluation, (3) design and analysis of comparative experiments in education, (4) educational research management procedures, (5) multivariate…

This report presents the findings of the application of the Differential Coursework Patterns (DCP) cluster analytic model to the tests and transcripts of a combined sample of 1987-88 and 1988-89 graduating seniors at Evergreen State College (Washington). The project found that enrollment in different patterns of programs was consistently…

Reviews empirical education research trends in West Germany since 1965. Reports on the movement from normative research to empirical research in educational settings. Considers research priorities and the primacy of the University of Constance (West Germany) in developments focusing on analyzing the factual order of the educational system rather…

Many programs for individualization of instruction are based on a curriculum structure involving a careful sequencing of instructional objectives and larger units of learning content. A methodology that may be useful in the formative evaluation of the sequential and structural properties among predefined curriculum units and specific instructional…

The purpose of this field study was to test a "macro-model" stemming from earlier research on ability grouping. Dependent process variables such as methods of instruction, and time for school and homework were studied as a function of grouping characteristics of the class. The main data are "macro" in the sense that they refer…