Analysis of followup studies of graduates of College of Education doctoral progams at Ohio State and Michigan State universities considered alumni perceptions of doctoral guidance committee activities in planning course work, preparing and administering comprehensive evaluations, and guiding dissertation research. Questionnaire responses from a…

A group of teachers and researchers organized the Written Literacy Forum (WLF) to investigate how research on writing instruction could be made more practical for educators. WLF examined common research assumptions and their effects on formal research presentations, highlighting the surprising lack of effort by researchers to talk with teachers…

This document summarizes the contents of two comprehensive reports, "Review of Related Research" and "Survey of Beginning Teachers and Their Employing Public Schools." Three types of studies were examined in reviewing literature on research about the needs of first-year teachers: (1) "Teacher Reflections,"…

The determinants of fertility and attempts to extract conclusions that are relevant for fertility reduction policies in developing countries are investigated. The paper suggests that socioeconomic development has a decisive effect in lowering fertility in the long run but in the short run, and for specific households, the effect is not as…

In this paper 45 item-writing rules for multiple-choice tests presented in textbooks on educational measurement in a previous study are identified. The current study presents a quantitative review of the literature with respect to the empirical and theoretical evaluation of these principles of item-writing. Fifty-six studies that addressed at…

This collection contains data from a 1976 survey on organization, staffing, and operation of the gifts and exchange functions of member libraries of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and 26 primary source documents. Source documents in the kit include: (1) annual reports from Columbia University, University of North Carolina, and Ohio…

These two brochures contain the philosophy and principles of evaluating and reporting pupil achievement (including a definition of the regular marking system) adopted by the Wichita Public Schools. Evaluating and reporting are viewed as a single process which is an integral part of the teaching/learning process. Communication with pupils and…

This paper argues that there will be greater use of independent learning and distance education in the future combined with increased use of technology due to the demand for continuing adult education and new methods of teaching. Research into new technology in education will become a priority as the use of technology will require large-scale…

The Secondary School Admission Test Board (SSATB) is a professional educational association of nearly 650 independent elementary and secondary schools and organizations, all committed to excellence in the profession of independent school admission. In this role, the SSATB tested 47,576 students in 1986-87. The SSATB is a non-profit corporation…

Examples of the difficulties that public school program evaluators can have in explaning perplexing results are provided. Arguments abound over the best way to report a finding that has multiple interpretations or presentation options, and the enigma of realizing that one way to report a finding is not the only way, or even necessarily the best…

Four papers presented at the National Council on Measurement in Education meeting are critiqued. G. R. Mandeville and H. Heidari (1988), in a study of unusually effective schools, asked if correlations among cohorts of schools differ depending on the method of analysis used. It is suggested that it would be better to ask whether schools identified…

Because there is little theoretical background to explain the process of adopting computers for instruction in postsecondary institutions, this paper reviews the literature on this process from the perspective of technological innovation. Technological innovation is defined as the use of tools and techniques which extend human capability and which…

This paper highlights findings of school effectiveness research, identifies major criticisms connected with that research, and discusses implications for dissemination. An ample bibliography follows. Twelve characteristics are associated with quality schools, including high level of teacher expectation, frequent classroom visitation by principals,…

This paper demonstrates the importance of effective planning when using database application programs in exceptional education programs, to more efficiently track students' performance, keep vital information, and create desired reports. The described approach, called the ends-to-means model, calls for developing the database by designing the…

Recent commission and task force reports calling for educational improvement may carry more weight than their content deserves because of their sources. The findings of these commissions vary since each commission has its own concept of education, its own political purposes, and its own sources of data. Still, their general recommendations stress…