This paper focuses on the trade-offs that lie at the intersection of methodological requirements for causal effect studies and policies that affect how and to what extent schools engage in such studies. More specifically, current federal funding priorities encourage large-scale randomized studies of interventions in authentic settings. At the same…

Set in the context of today's globalized approaches to curriculum reform, the purpose of this study was to compare the teaching and learning of science in Chinese and Australian Grade 6 classrooms. A conceptual framework based on notions of culture and socioeconomic status informed the research design. Case study participants were three teachers…

Discusses the problem of choosing the proper unit (e.g., class or individual student) for the statistical analysis of educational research. Describes a study that was statistically analyzed eight different ways and discusses the various results and implications. Suggests that the problem of selecting the proper experimental unit may be less…

Contains a debate on research design and methodology considerations of the study. (CP)