In the last issue, this journal asked a question on many librarians' minds, and it was pleased with the depth and variety of responses. As suggested by this journal editorial board member Oliver Pesch, readers were asked, "Many libraries have gone to federated searching to win users back from Google. Is it working?" Respondents approached the…

This article systematically reviews research on the achievement outcomes of four types of approaches to improving the reading success of children in the elementary grades: reading curricula, instructional technology, instructional process programs, and combinations of curricula and instructional process. Study inclusion criteria included use of…

The inclusion of young children with disabilities has remained a function of the Head Start program since its inception in the 1960s when the United States Congress mandated that children with disabilities comprise 10% of the Head Start enrollment (Zigler & Styfco, 2000). Standardized, norm-referenced tests used to identify children with…

What happens when standards, teaching for understanding, research based strategies for improving student achievement, and teacher inquiry become a whole? Power Teaching results. A prototype in development at an urban, elementary school in the South, power teaching connects the dots of state standards, Harvard Project Zero's teaching for…

There has been much research concerning functional assessment over the past 20 years, but several important research considerations have yet to be explained. One is the comparison of different types of functional assessment (e.g., experimental functional analysis and non-experimental functional assessment). The current study aims to compare the…

A framework is offered for fostering systematic, creative synthesis across various case studies. The challenge for those seeking to synthesize from case studies is to develop respect for the individual case context while permitting some blurring of unique features to occur in the synthesis. Case studies are meant to render an account of specific…

Elaboration theory is a prescriptive model of instruction which focuses on how to structure and organize subject matter while attempting to be consistent with cognitive theories of human learning. In this system, instruction in the subject matter should proceed sequentially, from the general to the specific, with each part explained and related to…

The constructive phases of system design are discussed with particular reference to information systems design. A preliminary attempt is made at definition of terms and an initial organization of research presented. A synopsis of work to date is presented within the framework of three thrust areas (1) creative and intuitive design methods, (2)…

The problems of modeling a process as complex as reading are discussed, including such factors as the lack of agreement surrounding definitions of modeling, varying levels of rigor within and between models, the disjunctive categories within which models fall, and the difficulty of synthesis across fields which employ very different technical…

Points out that Ralph Smith's article, "A Question of Elitism," offers useful distinctions for advancing the cause of elitism in education. Contends that excellence and democratic values are indeed compatible. (BSR)

A theoretical framework describing second-order philosophical processes that can be productive for human movement studies is presented. The processes of edification and theory building can clarify issues, expand viewpoints, and establish systematic ways of dealing with a phenomenon, leading to the more mature forms of dialogues and theories. (MT)

The article suggests supplementing the social problem study groups and data synthesis approaches to building knowledge with emphasis on synthesizing reviews. Such reviews would strengthen the evaluation profession and promote utilization of the knowledge base generated by evaluators. (DWH)

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how a quantitative literature review or research synthesis can be used to aggregate information in the item response theory literature to address specific research questions. The research questions focused on the magnitude of the contribution of the number of items and number of examinees to the accuracy…