This book traces the development of competitive admission and financial aid policies at a selected group of 16 liberal arts colleges in Ohio and Massachusetts over the period 1955 to 1994. Exploring the way institutional decisions reflect and respond to broad demographic, economic, political, and social forces, the book considers the challenges…

A thorough understanding of the uses and applications of statistical techniques is integral in gaining support for library funding or new initiatives. This resource is designed to help practitioners develop and manipulate descriptive statistical information in evaluating library services, tracking and controlling limited resources, and analyzing…

Officials with the National Center for Education Statistics asked the National Research Center's Board on Testing and Assessment to convene a workshop to assist them with their decisions about reporting results for accommodating test takers. The day-long workshop brought together four panels of representatives from state assessment offices,…

A live demonstration of how a typical set of educational data can be examined using quantitative statistical software was conducted. The topic of tutorial support was chosen. Setting up a hypothetical research scenario, the researcher created 300 cases from random data generation adjusted to correct obvious error. Each case represented a student…

This study provides a descriptive statistical analysis of the incidence of students who participate in the federal free/reduced lunch program and who are identified for a gifted education program at three Kentucky middle schools. There are 2,000 students enrolled in the three schools and the free/reduced lunch incidence varies from 60 percent to…

Provides an exercise for introducing research methods to undergraduates. The students view a graph revealing that left-handed people are underrepresented in older age groups. Small group discussions attempt to explain this phenomenon. A follow-up class discussion focuses on the different approaches and methods available for interpreting the data.…

Considers the complete ethnographic project as a strategy for teaching qualitative methods. Describes an undergraduate class where students chose an ethnographic setting, gathered and analyzed data, and wrote a final report. Settings included Laundromats, bingo halls, auctions, karaoke clubs, and bowling leagues. (MJP)

Reviews 15 years of research to identify advances in understanding the association between education and equality. Divides the studies into three general categories: (1) social-arithmetic investigations that deal with the impact of contextual and individual variables, (2) environmental press (or directional tendency) research into the family and…

Addresses the implications for education of the expansion of information technology and proposes a model for teaching information skills within the context of an overall process. A model called the "Big Six Skills" is presented, and its application to information problems related to school, life, and work are explained. (10 references)…

Asserts that social mathematics, taught with a multicultural focus, provides opportunities to help children learn about cultural pluralism. Includes three class activities that require students to analyze and interpret numerical data about immigration and the ethnic composition of the United States. (CFR)

Highlights issues and controversies concerning current race-related educational research. Contends that some critics believe research sacrifices empirical objectivity for political goals. Partisan research supporters respond that all research begins with untested assumptions and an acknowledgment of purpose does not signify a skewed methodology.…

Teachers' stories were used to report the findings of a phenomenological (qualitative interview-based) study of experiences in teaching American Indian children. Avoiding academic discourse closes the gap between the reporting of research findings and their implementation into classroom practice. Contains 18 references. (Author/SAS)

This article reviews and analyzes how the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information, or "Privacy Rule" of Public Law 104-191 of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), have impacted the administration of student judicial affairs in higher education. In addition to briefly…

The purpose of this document is to give state directors of special education, especially those who are new in their positions, a guide to understanding their role and responsibilities with respect to the collection, analysis and reporting of post-school outcomes data for Indicator 14 of the Part B State Performance Plan (SPP). To assist state…

This report presents findings from a national examination of the organizations that sponsor, oversee and hold accountable U.S. charter schools. Its primary aim is to describe and characterize these crucial but little known organizations: What do they look like? How big are they? How do they go about their work? The results of this inquiry is a new…