This study attempted to identify efforts to evaluate programs for gifted and talented students in 122 Texas school districts and to compare these practices with those recommended in the literature and with Texas Education Association guidelines. Areas examined included informal and formal assessment of student and teacher identification practices,…

Social science research suggests that reducing class size has its largest effects on the achievement of minority and inner-city children during the first year of formal schooling. Despite scholarly disagreements about the implications of specific studies on class size, economists generally agree that targeted class-size policies rest on stronger…

This document is a synthesis and summary of five reports investigating the experience of New York State in the implementation of competency based teacher education. The document presents: (1) background information that determined the basis for the study; (2) description of project development procedures; (3) intervening variables encountered as…

A study was sponsored by the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to: (1) document and analyze the information needs of various groups (e.g., the legislature, state agencies, and community colleges) with respect to the state's community colleges and to prepare a matrix of information needs and uses; (2) inventory the…

The way in which findings from a statewide study on permanency planning were utilized and integrated within an accredited undergraduate social work curriculum is described. The concept of permanency planning (through the provision of in-home services to help the child remain in his/her biological home or the removal of the child and placement in…

A study was conducted in 1979 to determine the organizational factors that influence the growth or decline of community college Research, Evaluation, and Planning units (REP's) and to assess the impact of Proposition 13 (California tax limitation measure, 1978) on these units. A historical analysis of REP development at a single community college…

In response to the increasing use of state-based performance indicators for postsecondary education, a study was undertaken to review the reliability and validity of state-level indicators in the Florida Community College System (FCCS). Data were collected from literature reviews and the 1996 FCCS Accountability Report, detailing outcomes for 17…

A questionnaire survey of a random sample of 415 elementary and secondary teachers in the state of Victoria (Australia) sought to determine how research knowledge is disseminated to educators, what the most effective diffusion routes are, and what impact the knowledge has on educational practice. The researchers distinguished between written and…

The California Statewide Longitudinal Study provided information on community college students' experiences and needs which is of value for colleges in determining strategies and priorities. While, however, this and similar studies address the needs of the learners and the colleges, the impressions and concerns of one key client, the prospective…

Based on the experience of developing and implementing a cooperative study of the economic impact of Oregon's community colleges, this guidebook describes the process of conducting the study in order to assist institutions planning to undertake similar investigations. In Part I, the purpose, focus, and scope of the Oregon study are reviewed, and…

Twenty-eight deans of instruction (out of 29 contacted) responded to a survey eliciting information on institutional research at small junior colleges (head-count enrollment of 3,000 or less) in Texas. The survey instrument covered four general questions: (1) is there a systematic on-campus procedure for compiling information; (2) what information…

The effectiveness with which research findings are disseminated to policy makers in education, particularly at the state level, is explored in the four chapters of this report. In chapter 1, Linda J. Nelson reviews the literature and determines that policy makers do make important, but indirect, use of research. She suggests that research…

Two studies examined the extent vocational research and development products are distributed to primary audiences and the extent of use of selected products. Input from thirty vocational educators in twenty states was used to formulate two questionnaires distributed in Florida and Pennsylvania to persons who distribute and use research products.…

In 1991, a study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the institutional research (IR) office at Miami-Dade Community College (M-DCC). Two surveys were used to gather information for the study. The first was sent to the 285 M-DCC employees and board members on the IR office's mailing list, while the second was sent to 43 individuals,…

A study was conducted to determine how a representative sample of Iowa elementary school teachers viewed a number of research-supported and nonsupported teaching procedures in spelling. In addition, the study was designed to ascertain the degree to which this representative sample of teachers was utilizing or not utilizing selected…