Staff members at the Iowa Department of Education are involved in a 3-year initiative (1998-2001) to strengthen school improvement efforts at the local school, district, and intermediate service agency levels. Papers presented at a symposium of the American Educational Research Association annual meeting describe the multiple purposes and design…

This monograph reviews issues in research on the effects of using accommodations for students with disabilities who are included in educational assessments, particularly state and district assessments. Following an introductory overview, a section provides background on the need for good research on accommodations. The paper then defines commonly…

At the request of a Senate subcommittee, this report describes the value of conducting impact evaluations, describes their current use in evaluating selected early childhood education and care programs, and discusses the value of other types of early childhood education and care studies currently promoted and sponsored by the Departments of Health…

The Child Nutrition Act of 1998 authorized demonstration pilot projects in up to six school food authorities and a rigorous evaluation to assess the effects of providing free school breakfasts to elementary school children. This report describes the evaluation strategy and data collection plans. Part 1 of the report provides background…

To ensure that educational tests do the least harm and bring the greatest good to the education of elementary and secondary school students, it is important that parents, teachers, educational administrators, and policy makers be actively involved in test construction and use. The purpose of this Statement is to provide a checklist of some…

The quest for the inclusion of science inquiry in the curriculum now spans three centuries. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Armstrong, Dewey, and others espoused the teaching of science inquiry. The launch of Sputnik in 1957 began the strong emphasis on inquiry. Renewed interest in inquiry occurred in the late 1980s and 1990s with science…

This paper describes aspects of the design and implementation of "Learning How To Learnin Classrooms, Schools, and Networks," a major development and research project within the Teaching and Learning Research Programme in the United Kingdom. It focuses on how a group of Cambridge academics and researchers, working in partnership with other…

The measurement of self concept and motivation of children ages 3 to 6 with an interview instrument is not an easy task. It has been accomplished with middle income, suburban children before. However, this same interview did not work well with low income, urban preschoolers. This study presents the preliminary psychometric work on a new interview…

A pretest posttest experimental group design was used to study the effects that computer assisted instruction (CAI) has on urban school, tenth grade students' achievement in global studies. Students were selected and assigned to one of two groups using random selection and assignment techniques. A pretest confirmed the equivalence of the two…

Researchers, historians, and philosophers of science have debated the nature of scientific research in education for more than 100 years. Recent enthusiasm for "evidence-based" policy and practice in education now codified in the federal law that authorizes the bulk of elementary and secondary education programs have brought a new sense…

It is the purpose of this paper to discuss one qualitative research method, participant observation, which describes and analyzes a setting based on data that has been laboriously and systematically collected and analyzed. (Author/RK)

This study describes an emerging sociological prototype and examines the degree to which urban stresses and conditions are absent or present and the manner in which they reveal themselves. (Author/RK)

The studies reviewed represent three dependent variables and their correlates: values as affective elements in the decision process, the content and process of decision making, and organizational style and effectiveness of homemakers. (Author)

This article suggests a number of ways to improve field research on interactions among student characteristics and group counseling techniques. A greater variety of research strategies is urged to create and field test specific counseling treatments for particular students. (Author)