Examines Burt's contributions to typographical research on spacing words and texts; use of serifs, and the effects of typefaces, typesizes, and line-length on reading comprehension. In spite of Hearnshaw's (1979) favorable assessment and the wisdom of Burt's sentiments, many of his conclusions were not supported by data. (JAC)

The effective school's perspective for evaluating educational programs is not a scientific but rhetorical reform model. Definition of effective schooling must include school-wide and continuing achievement gains. Effective schooling research is geared toward educational policy. Effective schooling research should instruct administrators and…

Argues that, in the assessment of school "effects," multiple indicators of school effectiveness are required, including scholastic attainment, classroom behavior, absenteeism, attitudes to learning, continuation in education, employment, and social functioning. Assesses empirical evidence on the extent to which schools may be effective…

Reviews the Piagetian description of the stages of development of children's drawings, points out the influence of task demands on drawing performance, and asserts need for a new theory. An alternative framework is discussed and recent research illustrating the alternate theory and methodology is reviewed. (Author/RH)

Problems that face evaluators, including field based evaluations, are discussed. The author states that open communication, access to data, and an ability to be accepted are paramount; knowledge of randomness, robustness and homoscedasticity may be secondary. (Author/PN)

As demand for new knowledge grows, universities are under increasing stress with increasing research limitations; unstable financial support, contracting for specific research rather than open-ended funding, and problems of staffing projects. Problems in developing and implementing research policy under these circumstances are discussed. (MSE)

Discusses research into the external validity of simulation games used in education, i.e., the degree to which the games correspond to the real-life situations they are designed to simulate. An exploratory study examines the validity of a business game and potential problems of validity research are examined. (JJD)

The impact of television on mass culture and of computer technology on research in the social sciences and humanities is discussed. Questions are raised concerning the quality of research based on information available from computers. It is suggested that "a super-abundance of information is no substitute for wisdom." (PP)

Using comparative speech tasks and EMG recordings to assess the potential of EMG biofeedback-assisted relaxation to reduce stuttering, a preschool child was able to reduce larynegeal tension but not without some difficulty. The small effect of the training was in the direction of less stuttering. (Author/CM)

This paper summarizes and reviews the literature on the impact of work experience through career education programs, youth employment and training programs, and part-time work during the adolescent years. The findings indicate that the benefits of working to education, socialization, and subsequent employment have been greatly overestimated.…

Suggests that Holzberg's claim that certain studies ignore cultural factors in aging may be unfounded. These studies are defended because of their interest in minority status rather than the broader concept of ethnicity. Concludes that little is known about cultural influences on aging. Presents Holzberg's response. (Author/JAC)

Many researchers, wishing to generalize to large numbers, have turned away from Piaget's measurement techniques to group paper-and-pencil tests. The psychometric properties of these tests and their statistical links with other constructs are examined, along with the relationship between the observed products of mental effort and their underlying…

A study of education students at University of Ife, Nigeria, indicated that (1) the subjects did not bring a "tabula rasa" knowledge of the course content into the study and (2) the course led to knowledge gain even after the effect of preentry knowledge was "partialed out" from end-of-course knowledge. (Author/BW)

Assessed five alcoholism scales derived from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory for their ability to classify accurately alcoholics and non-alcoholic psychiatric patients. The alcoholic group was divided into self-committed and court-committed. Depending on how the data were treated, found only one, or none of the scales accurate.…