This paper offers criticism of rural education research methods, and identifies areas in need of more or better systematic inquiry. It suggests the need to increase the quantity of the highest quality of research and the need for researchers to reach policy makers and "mainstream" education journals more effectively. Five main problems…

Educational researchers should be aware of the general consensus of the research community as to what is proper and improper in the conduct of educational research, since there is as yet no explicit code of ethics. Accordingly, this paper examines existing ethical standards to initiate discussion of issues specific to the educational research…

This survey investigated: (1) the extent that psychometric criteria are used in test selection; (2) the weight given to different types of psychometric information relative to other qualities of the test; and (3) possible reasons for differences among districts. Directors of testing offices, including members of the National Association of Test…

School climate is an elusive but powerful concept that has captured the attention of both researchers and practitioners, but choosing an instrument to assess climate can be very complicated. This monograph accordingly discusses four basic issues that should be considered prior to selecting an instrument to measure school climate: purpose, choice…

These training materials consist of a pretest, eight instructional units, and a posttest designed for a workshop to train counselors in using labor market information to help students improve their career decisions. Covered in the instructional units are the following topics: career decision making and the role of labor market information,…

Effective use of career resource centers (CRCs) is dependent upon having good resources, good organization and management of the resources, purposeful access strategies (a variety of assessment activities and materials), and meaningful utilization of the information. Assuming that CRCs have good resources and are well organized and managed, a more…

A study based on a randomly-selected sample of 41 Ohio State University faculty was conducted to examine faculty member's receipt and use of feedback about instruction-related activities. The faculty was also asked to identify issues relevant to evaluation practices and improvement of instruction. Faculty reported relatively little effort directed…

This preliminary conceptual framework and the 23 related guidelines have been prepared by specialists drawn from both developed and developing nations as a joint project of the International Institute for Aerial Survey and Earth Sciences (ITC). The project was designed to analyze linkages between natural resource based data and certain types of…

This 1985 Michigan Occupational Information System (MOIS) Application Training booklet focuses on use of MOIS in a K-12 program of career development. Introductory materials include an MOIS application training agenda and information on what is new with MOIS. The section with materials for career development in the elementary school provides an…

A study was conducted to examine the influence of topic familiarity on good and poor readers' ability to identify and use important information in expository texts. Subjects were 56 eighth grade students and 37 adults. After indicating their familiarity with the topics of eight experimental passages using J. P. Guilford's method of paired…

Assuming that freshman research papers can be interesting as well as educational, this book presents ten sample student papers selected from classes in which research methods were taught through the use of newspapers and periodicals. The paper topics, based on real people and actual events, range from bizaare murder cases and treasure expeditions…

In 1974, Congress, recognizing the difficulty individuals have in obtaining information on bilingual education, mandated the establishment of a national clearinghouse on bilingual education. This paper was sent to people involved in bilingual education as background material for a series of six conferences on the development of such a…

This model for a school community resource directory contains the following: (1) an overview of the problems involved in the compiling of resource people to serve as career speakers and trip hosts with a possible solution in the form of a file card format; (2) a description of the promotion of the new format; (3) an explanation of the development…

Using interviews, observation, and archival documents, researchers traced the 4-year history of a "freestanding" interorganizational arrangement for school improvement in Santa Clara County (California). Called the "AB 65 Elementary Consortium," the interdistrict collaboration was started in response to California Assembly Bill…

This interim report analyzes the dissemination and impact of "SET: Research Information for Teachers," a package of articles presenting educational research findings in a journalistic style for distribution to Australian and New Zealand schools and teachers. The report consists of four sections. The first section reviews recent…