Relationships between language, literacy, and school learning are investigated in a case study of a first grader. Examination of his journal-writing during a school year focuses on a two-month period in which he wrote almost exclusively about superheroes. An individual approach to sociolinguistic research on childhood learning is advocated. (48…

The extent to which a two-year college's effectiveness is linked to dominant organizational culture type (clan, adhocracy, hierarchy, or market) was examined. A survey of faculty and administrators in 30 representative colleges found that perceived effectiveness is strongly related to culture type, with adhocracy (characterized by employment of…

The authors of EC 604 295 examine their developing interest in teachers' perceptions of their peers' effectiveness in teaching difficult students, consider questions raised after seeing results of their study, and outline implications of this line of research in the future. (JDD)

The meanings that prominent educational researchers give to beliefs, and how this differs from the meaning of knowledge providers, are discussed; and a synthesis is offered about the nature of beliefs. It is argued that teachers' beliefs should be an important focus of educational research. (SLD)

A principal-agent framework is used to examine potential gains in educational performance and potential threats to public accountability that school-based decision-making proposals pose. Analysis underscores the need to tailor the design of decentralized decision making to the sources of poor educational performance and threats to school…

Describes study of university students that investigated the effects of two direct instruction techniques in a computer-based algebra lesson: the cognitive routine (CR) and the Corrective Feedback Paradigm (CFP). Research design is explained, results are analyzed, and further research is suggested. (nine references) (LRW)

Major findings from a five-year study of the impact of the Swedish School Leader Education Program (SLEP), a program of leadership development for principals and vice principals, are reported. Despite research design difficulties, results for 35 school management areas and 66 evaluators suggest a positive impact of the SLEP. (SLD)

Discusses teaching as a scientifically based art, noting that educational research must contribute to social justice, and examines controversy over social science, response to philosophers' criticisms, forms of research, process-product research, illustrative results of process-product research, necessary experiments, and other paradigms for…

Comments on specific points raised by E. W. Eisner, F. Erickson, and T. S. Popkewitz. Argues that the author's previous article does not support methodological monism. It is an assertion that some version of educational trial (clinical trial metaphor) is required to evaluate the usefulness of educational research. (SLD)

Describes parent-teacher action research, a format for developing stronger parent participation and parent-teacher collaboration. Relates an actual example of action research to improve parent participation in student reading. Discusses the possible benefits of initiating action research, and details 10 steps involved in this type of action. (JB)

In studies of relatives, conventional multiple regression may not be appropriate because observations are not independent. Obtaining estimates of regression coefficients and correct standard errors from these populations through a structural equation modeling framework is discussed and illustrated with data from twins. (SLD)

A report on clinical dental research reviews current conditions and makes recommendations for increased funding, improved peer review for research proposals, establishment of a well-defined training track for clinical researchers, and better institutional integration of and support for research and teaching. Projected need for researchers is also…

Considers the impact of information technology (IT) on children's learning in schools with particular reference to two studies that examined the value of using IT. Discussion includes the difficulties of evaluating IT effectiveness and some explanations for the insignificant impact of IT in the studies. (13 references) (KRN)

Describes a study in progress that examines electronic journals within the context of the formal scholarly communication process and attempts to determine whether publication in electronic journals brings the expected rewards of research publication. The criteria for acceptable scholarly communication channels and the study's methodology and…

Argues that a new definition of affect that focuses on the subjective understanding of interpersonal events, can be used to expand models of how observed family behaviors are related to adolescent psychosocial outcomes. A method for examining adolescents' subjective understanding of family behaviors, the video-recall method, is illustrated in a…