This is the technical appendix for the report "Gaining Momentum: Refining Corequisite Learning Support to Boost Student Success in the First Year and Beyond" which seeks to develop a body of actionable information about how to refine learning support, close equity gaps, and promote strong momentum toward success for community college…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the instructional practices implemented by Tennessee elementary teachers in response to Common Core Standardized Testing. This research study utilized a basic qualitative method that included a purposive and convenient sampling. This qualitative study focused on face-to-face interviews, phone…

We explore the use of instrumental variables (IV) analysis with a multisite randomized trial to estimate the effect of a mediating variable on an outcome in cases where it can be assumed that the observed mediator is the only mechanism linking treatment assignment to outcomes, an assumption known in the IV literature as the exclusion restriction.…

We explore the use of instrumental variables (IV) analysis with a multi-site randomized trial to estimate the effect of a mediating variable on an outcome in cases where it can be assumed that the observed mediator is the only mechanism linking treatment assignment to outcomes, as assumption known in the instrumental variables literature as the…

Thus far researchers have focused on computing average differences in student achievement between smaller and larger classes. In this study, the author focus on the distribution of the small class effects at the school level and compute the inconsistency of the small class effects across schools. The author use data from Project STAR to estimate…

Care Quality Rating and Improvement Systems (QRISs) have advanced and matured, a number of states and localities have undertaken evaluations to validate the systems. Such efforts stem from the desire to ensure that the system is designed and operating in the ways envisioned when the system was established. Given that a central component in a QRIS…

Needs assessments in substance abuse prevention often rely on secondary data measures of consumption and consequences to determine what population subgroup and geographic areas should receive a portion of limited resources. Although these secondary data measures have some benefits (e.g. large sample sizes, lack of survey response biases and cost),…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the perceptions of partner teachers and graduate fellows in 1 school regarding the barriers and successes made during their participation in a National Science Foundation Grant. This study included 9 partner teachers and 7 graduate fellows who participated in the Science First! NSF GK-12…

This article focuses on how electronic information resources influence the information-seeking process in the social sciences and humanities. It examines the information-seeking behavior of scholars in these fields, and extends the David Ellis model of information-seeking behavior for social scientists, which includes six characteristics:…

This report presents student-level achievement results for two groups of schools in Tennessee: (a) four charter schools that began operation in 2003-2004; and (b) three new charter schools that were established in 2004-2005. These two cohorts were therefore completing their second and first academic years, respectively, at the time the achievement…

Data collected by the Appalachia Educational Laboratory (AEL) in its 1980 Needs Assessment Project was reduced to eight marker variables for use in subsequent individual state factor analyses. These variables concern (1) high need family situations; (2) effective career education/guidance; (3) increased school capacity for working with families;…

Researchers conducted surveys of public attitudes in two Tennessee school systems in 1984-85 and 1985-86. Although interested in the survey results, one purpose of the researchers was to determine some inexpensive and relatively simple survey procedures. The researchers sought--through several pilot studies--to identify an efficient, parsimonious…

In this study we test the performance of some nonexperimental estimators of impacts applied to an educational intervention--reduction in class size--where achievement test scores were the outcome. We compare the nonexperimental estimates of the impacts to "true impact" estimates provided by a random-assignment design used to assess the…