In this background paper to the Educational Research Symposium on the "Socio-Culturally Handicapped", compensatory educational programs are reviewed with particular regard to pre-primary and primary school education. Positive strategies are suggested based on the development of evaluation techniques which link research and action and are tied to…

This report describes the various programs associated with the British educational priority area (EPA) project whose aim was to identify and evaluate practical means of implementing in the primary and pre-school the recommendations of the Plowden Report that a policy of "positive discrimination" be adopted towards the education of…

This summary paper of the Educational Research Symposium on the "Socio-Culturally Handicapped" details the major themes of the conference, and lists recommendations for further involvement for the Council of Europe in this area. (EH)

The Randomized Response Technique (RRT) appears to have promise in future work which studies the relation of school variables to disruption or delinquent behavior. The RRT is especially useful in situations when it is difficult or undesirable directly to ask stigmatizing questions. The proportions of students in this study estimated to have used…

A problem, endemic to program evaluation, centering around the inability of evaluations to produce meaningful information, is outlined. A general strategy to be utilized in responding to the problem, the ethnographic approach, is presented. The discussion of an ethnographic evaluation model focuses upon: the role of the participant observer,…

This paper reports on an investigation of the preferences of 50 parents of kindergarten children for various types of report cards and proposes a method of reporting that conforms to the parents' preferences. A general opinionnaire plus a Report Card Evaluation form were designed for the study. Parents were found to prefer (1) a reporting method…

To date, efforts to educate the disadvantaged child have failed because most teachers and administrators have been unable to transcend the gulf between his culture and their own. Two concepts, however, are basic to any suggestions about educating the disadvantaged. First, it is possible to educate children "by providing a model for emulation and…

This paper reports some findings observed in the course of an on-going study of some effects of an Organization Development (OD) intervention in a secondary level parochial school. Two types of data are reported. First, data commonly found in literature concerning OD in schools, those in the social psychological dimension. These included some…

Participant/observation is useful as a tool for gathering evidence about processes, circumstances, or other observable conditions. A participant/observer is an investigator gathering evidence. Observations are carefully recorded, prejudgment is scorned, and judgments flow from the evidence. In approaching a situation to be investigated, the…

Several of the most common approaches to the preparation of more reflective teachers during pre-service teacher education are described. Specific strategies include: action research, ethnographic studies, writing exercises, and the Ohio State reflective teaching exercises. Empirical evidence concerning inquiry-oriented strategies is also…

In conceptualizing the improvement of schooling, a distinction may be drawn between content and context. The applications of research to improve classroom practices is promising where teachers are viewed as problem framers and action researchers. These contextual shifts are necessary if research is to make a difference. (MT)

An action research project implemented musical strategies to affect and enhance student recall and memory. The target population was three suburban elementary schools near a major midwestern city: (1) a kindergarten classroom contained 32-38 students; (2) a second grade classroom contained 23 students and five Individualized Education Program…

Action research is designed with the intent of assisting educators in assessing the effectiveness of their building and classroom practices. Lesson study helps teachers use ongoing collaborative peer-insight and feedback about student responses to instruction to develop high quality lessons. Middle school teachers from an outer-ring suburb of…

This report describes a program for integrating the musical intelligence in a first-grade classroom curriculum in a primary K-2 school in a northern suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The utilization of the musical intelligence in the classroom is documented with attitudinal surveys, checklists, music journals and teacher observations. Music…

This report describes a program to enhance spelling word retention through the use of background music. The targeted population consisted of elementary students in three middle class communities located in the southwestern suburbs of Chicago. The problems for poor spelling retention were documented through data revealing the number of students…