This study explored how adult students define success in college and their perceptions of factors that either support or hinder achievement of this success. Thirteen returning adult students at two institutions were interviewed using a grounded theory approach. Data were analyzed inductively and iteratively to identify persistent themes. Students…

The Common Core of Data (CCD) program of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) consists of five separate surveys. An evaluation was conducted of the nonfiscal surveys from the CCD for 1996-97. It focused primarily on the agency and school universe surveys, but it also included the state nonfiscal survey. The evaluation explored such…

Continuing professional development is an important activity for most teachers in the K-12 system, and it is even required of some teachers in order to maintain certification (Maldonado, 2002). Professional development programs are predicated on the assumption that the teachers who receive the training will in turn positively affect student…

This handbook is a basic "how-to" guide to help one's Parent Training and Information Center (PTI) or Community Parent Resource Center (CPRC) evaluate its programs. Evaluation may seem overwhelming, but a center already performs some steps of the evaluation process for the reports required by the Technical Assistance ALLIANCE for Parent Centers…

This is a checklist of key items to get right when conducting a randomized controlled trial to evaluate an educational program or practice ("intervention"). It is intended as a practical resource for researchers and sponsors of research, describing items that are often critical to the success of a randomized controlled trial. A significant…

This study examined (1) the extent to which, since 2000, states have enacted and proposed statutes and regulations to govern commercial activities in schools; (2) the extent to which districts have developed policies implementing amended provisions of the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) in the No Child Left Behind Act on the use of…

Evidence-centered assessment design (ECD) is an approach to constructing educational assessments in terms of evidentiary arguments. This paper provides an introduction to the basic ideas of ECD, including some of the terminology and models that have been developed to implement the approach. In particular, it presents the high-level models of …

The passage of the Children First Act in 1988 ushered in a new era of data collection, analysis, and reporting about the overall quality and condition of education in Louisiana. Implemented in 1990, this major piece of legislation resulted in the publication of the Progress Profiles (School Report Cards, District Composite Report, and the…

The purpose of scientifically-based research within No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is to identify and disseminate conclusive information on ?what works? in education, with an emphasis on determining what instructional input (curricula, instructional techniques) works to increase student outcomes such as academic achievement and language proficiency.…

This report describes research that Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) has conducted for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), to develop methods to track the use of "competitive foods" in schools over time. Competitive foods are foods from a la carte cafeteria sales, vending machines, school stores,…

Article considered the differences in preference for the faculty of Catholic colleges and state university teachers while both agreed on the importance of teaching as their primary role.

This paper describes a study that attempts to measure the influence of a commercially available game, Marketplace, on student achievement is economic understanding and student attitudes toward the instructional process and selected economic concepts. (Author)

The present research is concerned with preference for visual (polygon) complexity versus simplicity in relation to national membership, using adult subjects from five nations (cultures) four groups of which were temporarily resident in the U.S.A. (Author)

The Illinois Three Phase System for Statewide Evaluation of Occupational Education Programs will be operationally dependent on the Management Information System (MIS). The efficiency of the evaluation system will be greatly enhanced by the availability in the MIS. (Author/KP)

A national survey indicates that the cost of operating and maintaining schools has risen more than 13 percent in the last year. The main thrust of inflation has come not through salaries but through goods and services purchased. (Author)