This randomized pretest/posttest group study examined the impact of explicit instruction in decoding, comprehension, and fluency on the reading achievement of incarcerated students from facilities in a southwestern (SW) state, a southeastern (SE) state, and a mid-Atlantic (MA) state. Comparisons were made between instruction comprised of higher…

Papers in this volume explore indicators of children's well-being in the following areas: cross-cutting issues; population, family, and neighborhood; and social development and problem behaviors. The first section includes: (1) "Potential and Problems in Developing Indicators on Child Well-Being from Administrative Data" (Robert M.…

In 1990, Milwaukee (Wisconsin) became the site of the first publicly funded school-choice program providing low-income parents with vouchers that could be used to send their children to secular, private schools. An evaluation of Milwaukee's school-choice experiment was conducted by a team of researchers, headed by John Witte at the University of…

An evaluation of Round One of a pilot study of a system for identifying effective youth organizations around the world is presented in this report. The report begins with a page of general observations about the successes and shortcomings of the pilot study, indicating that in general the study accomplished its objectives but that a need for…

This book is about colleagues in colleges and universities who sometimes are unethical. It is about episodes that people in universities and colleges prefer not to talk about except in whispers, if at all--clashes over ethics and the dilemmas created by unethical colleagues in research and teaching. The book was written for those members of…

On the one hand, the social science tradition of imitating hard scientific methodology has led to a situation in which much research has little to offer the real and complex world of the practicing teacher. On the other hand, some educators measure education by the angle of students' heads and the quality of their graffiti in the washroom. Most…

Profound changes taking place in communities and in universities are bringing researchers and community members new opportunities for joint research endeavors and new problems that must be resolved. In such partnerships, questions about shared decision making--about the ethics of collaboration--arise at every stage: Who decides which problems are…

Two innovative methods for collecting and analyzing qualitative data are vignettes and pre-structured cases. Vignettes are descriptions of situations or problems written by a professional, with a suggested outline and comments provided by a researcher. Advantages of this method are strength of impact of the written descriptions and efficiency of…

Despite an arduous effort to cope with modern Puerto Rico's societal needs, Puerto Rican junior colleges' educational offerings are inadequate and often irrelevant. The complexity and peculiarities of the junior college system in Puerto Rico cannot be fully grasped within the existing models for educational research designed for the educational…

The purpose of this paper is to outline and explain the evaluation system used by the Rhode Island Department of Education to measure the effectiveness of compensatory education programs. An exposition of how relevant background, program and financial information is collected is presented. In addition, a delineation is made of the methods…

Prevailing criticism of communication research in and out of university speech departments is justified and means that the quality of research must be improved. The last three years of speech communication research has not been noteworthy, dramatic, or significant. An initial remedial step might be the development of good, relevant, and sound…

Discusses problems of definition of elderly abuse. Examines data and research on the rates of elderly abuse and factors found related to elderly abuse. Critiques theories developed to explain the abuse of the elderly. Presents recommendations for research and practice. (RC)

Summarizes a National Research Council report indicating that the Department of Energy (DOE) underfunds basic, exploratory scientific research. Presents a matrix to provide DOE with perspectives for assessing the potential impact of chemistry-focused, basic, long-range, and pioneering research on various energy technology areas. (Author/SK)

Discusses conflicts that may arise when research is conducted in a university counseling center. Sources of conflict include philosophical assumptions about research, practical problems involved in carrying out the research, and ethical constraints. (Author)

Discusses the need for awareness of real and potential problems in educational evaluation approaches, kinds of problems there are with true experimental designs and with quasi-experimental designs, and the criteria applied by the Joint Dissemination Review Panel to its review of educational programs. (MF)