Advances in cognitive psychology deepen the understanding of how students gain and use knowledge and broaden the range of performances and situations researchers want to see to acquire evidence about students' developing knowledge. Advances in technology make it possible to capture more complex performances in assessment settings by including, as…

This report describes the methods and procedures used for the 2000 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:2000). NPSAS:2000 included notable changes from previous NPSAS surveys (conducted in 1987, 1990, 1993, and 1996) in its sample design and collection of data. For example, this study is the first to restrict institutional sampling to…

This document reports on the National Institute for Science Education (NISE) forum on the Evaluation of Systemic Reform in Mathematics and Science. The purposes of the forum were to reflect upon what to understand about the evaluation of reform in the educational system, and to encourage and support continuing efforts to learn more about how…

This manual, prepared by the Distance Education Council (India) presents guidelines for action research in distance education, balancing practical research activities with a sound theoretical research base. Chapter 1, "Scope, Purpose and Design of the Manual," suggests several definitions of research; draws distinctions between academic…

As computer aided instruction (CAI) and distance learning become more popular, a model for easily evaluating these teaching methods must be developed, one which will enable replication of the study each year. This paper discusses the results of a study using existing dependent and independent variables to evaluate CAI for developmental reading…

The present experiment was performed in order to investigate learning efficiency within four different ethnic groups: black, white, Chinese-American, and Spanish-American. In all groups, sampling was confined to children from low-socioeconomic-status communities. (Author)

The present article is an attempt to provide some partial answers to questions concerning conditions which contribute to the use of drugs and the role the university community should play in alleviating some of these conditions. (Author/RK)

Describes evaluative data obtained during the Colorado Elementary Science Project which used elementary teachers to provide inservice training for other teachers after intensive experience with one of the national elementary science projects. Makes recommendations for implementation and change of this diffusion model. (AL)

Questions arising in research and evaluation are more complicated in the area of early childhood education because of the vagaries of measurement with very young children and the occurrence of rapid changes during the early years. (Authors/MB)

This study attempted to: 1) form a testable hypothesis from data on ways teachers defiine disorderly behavior in the classroom, and 2) to substantiate the claim that it is fruitful to study the definition of a situation outside the laboratory. (CB)

The validity of various reliability-corrected procedures for adjusting for initial differences between groups in uncontrolled studies is established for subjects exhibiting linear fan-spread growth. The results are then extended to a nonlinear model of growth. (Author)

Six single subject experimental designs (AB, ABA, ABAB, Multiple Baseline, Changing Criterion, and Multi-Element Baseline) are examined in terms of their scientific rigor and practicality for school personnel. Design use may rest with the research question posed, behavior measured, teacher and personnel attitudes, and degree of scientific rigor…

The validity of the equipercentile hypothesis of the Title I Evaluation and Reporting System norm-referenced evaluation model was examined using 3,224 seventh- and ninth-grade students. Findings from confidence interval procedures contradicted the equipercentile hypothesis. There was a pattern of large gains for students not receiving any special…

Past research which used Piaget's model of cognitive development has suggested that historical understanding is a developmental construct. The present study, designed to test the theoretical adequacy of previous studies, shows that a new variable, information processing, could predict the level of historical understanding. (Author/CS)