Writing is an essential skill for participating in modern American society. Although it is crucial to careers and civic engagement, student writing falls far short of national expectations (College Board, 2004; NCES, 2012; Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003). The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) seek to increase the rigor of writing instruction…

The concept of statistical significance is explained, with specific numerical illustrations. (MNS)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe a study which investigated the relationship between the "health-promoting school" (HPS) approach and social capital and tested the proposition that the implementation of an HPS intervention leads to a significant improvement in HPS features and social capital. Design/methodology/approach:…

A dialog between two fictional teachers provides some basic examples of how research that uses approved methodology may provide results that are significant statistically but not significant practically. (PGD)

The second half of a dialogue between two fictional teachers examines the significance of statistical significance in research and considers the factors affecting the extent to which research results provide important or useful information. (PGD)

The article provides a set of tables with the differences necessary for statistical significance between the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales and Bayley Scales of Infant Development, McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities, Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, and Wechsler scales. The tables are intended to supplement clinical decisions in…

A national study of small and large high schools was undertaken in 1984 to collect data regarding the extent of curricular offerings and then to determine whether the differences were statistically significant. Two random samples were used: the first consisted of 475 schools with enrollments of less than 400 and the second was composed of 900…

Demonstrates a statistically valid method allowing students to explore randomization. Described are two examples: counting techniques for a small set of data and simulation for a large sample. (YP)

This manual is a first effort to begin to identify, describe, and develop procedures for assessing various aspects of digital reference service. Its overall purpose is to improve the quality of digital reference services and assist librarians to design and implement better digital reference services. More specifically, its aim is to: assist…

This 3-year study, part of the Effective Schools Project of the Seattle School District and the University of Washington, was undertaken to investigate the relationship between teachers' perceptions of the principal as instructional leader and average gain scores of students in 67 elementary schools in Seattle. Scores were disaggregated by student…

Outlines the simple exercise of measuring the length of an object as a concrete paradigm of the entire process of making chemical measurements and treating the resulting data. Discusses the procedure, significant figures, measurement error, spurious data, rejection of results, precision and accuracy, and student responses. (TW)

This study used the restricted access database of the 1993 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty to examine faculty workload by academic discipline for full-time regularly appointed teaching and research faculty in public Carnegie research I and II and Doctoral I and II institutions (n=2,056). Data are reported for 14 disciplinary areas…

The purpose of this study was to examine the potential of asynchronous discussion forums (ADFs) as a medium to facilitate reflective thinking among preservice teachers. Of particular interest was the extent and manner in which this potential varies with respect to (a) the structure of the ADF, (b) the focus of the ADF, and (c) group dynamics.…