This document is one of eight reports prepared to support the development of a new learning system, an effort that is the first step in a major initiative undertaken by the Stupski Foundation. The report was created collaboratively by researchers from McRel with guidance from officers of the Stupski Foundation. Its purpose is to provide members of…

It is tempting to assume that we know what our parents, our community, and our employees want from our schools. It is comforting to think that we know what they support. It is also dangerous. This article encourages school systems to let go of assumptions and to start asking the important questions that will lead school boards and administrators…

Some methodological issues are discussed that arise from our comparative research conducted since the early 1990s into primary schooling in Finland and England. This research has been identified as part of a "new" comparative education that uses qualitative research strategies and which prioritises sensitivity to cultural context in data…

This technical report and user's guide is designed to provide researchers with an overview of the design and implementation of the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), as well as with information on how to access the PISA 2009 data. This information is meant to supplement that presented in Organization for Economic Cooperation…

This report discusses the deliberations of the Northeast and Islands (NEI) Regional Advisory Committee (RAC), one of 10 RACs established by the U.S. Department of Education to solicit information about the educational needs of state and local educators, school officials, business leaders, state education agencies, parents, local communities, and…

Describes sources of data about the community with emphasis on the products of the Census Bureau. (PF)

The effects on response rate of familiarity with survey sender was investigated in a study involving the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences faculty. The study was part of a mail survey of 3,467 citrus producers in 23 counties in Florida. Half (1,790) of the producers on the agricultural agent's mailing lists were…

This is a series of papers delivered at three National Symposia for Professionals in Evaluation and Research (NSPER) sessions in 1979. The agenda was the same at all sessions. The main topic was "Planning for the Evaluation of Teaching." The sessions were conducted in Charlotte, North Carolina; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Albuguerque, New…

The intent of formative evaluation is to improve programs as well as to justify their continuation. It is critical to separate clearly those functions of the evaluation which are political from those which may lead the way to instructional improvement. Data for formative evaluation should be gathered in an interpretable way at the level at which…

Unanticipated obstacles and difficulties, endemic to industrial research in complex sociocultural settings, indicate that reliable conclusions concerning industrial life are problematic. Discussion of sampling biases reveals that error of unknown proportions is introduced into the research process: first, when decisions about whom to study are…

The Research Office of American River College, Los Rios Community College District in Sacramento was asked by the Chancellor's Office to develop a common form, or forms, to be used by the community colleges in the State awarded Economic Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) grants. This report is a description of that project and contains the…

This study explored seven possible techniques for improving the rate of returns for a questionnaire study with special concern for collecting information through high school follow-up studies. It evaluated these techniques using two criteria: their effectiveness in improving returns and their cost-effectiveness. The results suggest that a school…

This paper presents a simple random procedure for selecting subsets of stimulus pairs for presentation to subjects. The resulting set of ratings from the group of subjects allows the construction of a group space through the use of an existing computer program. (Author/JKS)