The experience of the Dallas (Texas) Independent School District in using a policy-oriented report (the chart essay), rather than using a methods-oriented report, to communicate evaluation findings is described. Resulting changes in the research and evaluation department, and implications of use of a chart essay are discussed. (SLD)

Written feedback was collected from 170 parents and professionals concerning psychoeducational reports about 80 children referred to pediatric hospitals for suspected learning difficulties. Reports were generally rated favorably for understandability, explanatory value, and utility. Parents gave lower ratings for understandability and reported…

Discusses the importance of education research for practitioners and presents a theory-practice research model. Research reports and developments in information technology are described, including (1) ERIC (Educational Resources Information Center) services; (2) school library media research reports; (3) articles on online searching in schools;…

The relationships among factors reported on report cards developed for local school districts in Tennessee and how they related to student outcomes were studied. The study revealed few, if any, straight-line relationships between inputs and outputs reported. Report cards are vastly overrated as indicators of educational quality. (SLD)

To assess student achievement, states use a variety of accountability tools including school report cards, effectiveness scores, and school rankings. Responses from all 50 state departments of education showed that 19 states rank schools on their effectiveness as part of the state's accountability system. Three states use test scores alone for…

Describes the author's difficulties in teaching students who were ethnically, culturally, and socially different from himself. Emphasizes the significance of connecting the enacted curriculum to the interests and extant knowledge of students. Suggests some implications for teaching science, enacting and appropriating science curricula, and…

Students are often asked to write reports for science, history, and other content-area classes. Struggling writers and many of their classmates are unsure about how to plan and write reports. This article presents a strategy for planning and writing reports and describes how a general and special education teacher team-taught this strategy to a…

Over the last 15 years, surveys in a range of English-speaking countries, from North America and the United Kingdom, to New Zealand and Australia, have consistently shown that employers rank oral and written communication skills as highly as or more highly than any technical or quantitative skills. However, in New Zealand there has been very…

A university-wide project team of academic and administrative staff worked together to prepare, deliver and evaluate a number of diagnostic, formative and summative computer-based assessments. The team also attempted to assess the University of Southampton's readiness to deliver computer-assisted assessment (CAA) within the "Code of practice…

In April 2002, the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health was created by executive order to study the mental health care delivery system in our nation and to make recommendations for improvements so that individuals with serious mental disorders can live, work, learn, and fully participate in their homes and communities. In its…

This article reports on a study investigating the relationship between the introduction of new management practices and the training provided by Australian enterprises for their employees. The new management practices investigated include teamworking, total quality management, lean production, business process re-engineering and the learning…

This is a report of the "European Educational Research Journal" (EERJ) Roundtable that sought to describe what national educational research programmes are doing, how they are working together, and how they might contribute to the developing European Educational Research Space. The Roundtable was an opportunity for one large consortium…

An Assessment Audit is described consisting of 47 questions, each being scored 0 to 4, by the module team depending on the extent to which the audit point was satisfied. Scores of 2 or less indicated unsatisfactory provision. Audits were carried out on 14 bioscience- or medicine-based modules in 13 universities. There was great variability between…

The Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training on May 2005 commissioned the Australian Council for Educational Research to investigate and report on models and implementation arrangements for an Australian Certificate of Education. There are ten different certificates currently available across the six states and two territories of…

Pupils transferring to secondary school are positive about science and look forward to practical work. The research reported here explored Y6 and Y7 pupils' perceptions of practical science in school and the world of work. Pupils at both ages saw practical work as a natural and enjoyable consequence of scientific endeavour and of use to society.…