This user guide has been developed for users of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY). It consolidates existing technical documentation and other information into one document. The guide aims to address all aspects of the LSAY data including: how to access the data, data restrictions, variable naming conventions, the structure of the…

The last major review of the achievement outcomes of comprehensive school reform (CSR) models was conducted in 2003. Despite the growing evidence base supporting CSR, the program was discontinued by the federal government in 2007. Now, six years after the 2003 meta-analysis, the study's lead author, Geoffrey Borman, revisits the results and…

The purpose of this study was to develop a peer helping training program for university students in Turkey and to examine its effectiveness in improving the helping skills and self-growth of peer helpers. A pre-test, post-test, follow-up-test experimental design, involving a treatment and control group, was carried out with a total sample of 31…

This article presents descriptive insights into how a national research team located in three Australian states (New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia), is able to maintain a sustained, cohesive approach to achieving the project's aim. The initial section of the article introduces each team member prior to discussing the importance of…

Communities That Care (CTC) is a prevention system designed to reduce adolescent substance use and delinquency through the selection of effective preventive interventions tailored to a community's specific profile of risk and protection. A community-randomized trial of CTC, the Community Youth Development Study, is currently being conducted in 24…

The emergent psychosocial competence practice model in mental health represents an innovative strengths-based paradigm with potential relevance and applicability to black college women struggling with problems of psychological and social adjustment. Using an experimental design, with pre- and posttest measures, this study investigated the…

The European Social Survey, on which this issue of the journal focuses, is a 30-nation multi-funded survey series measuring attitude change. Started in 2001, it is characterised by unusually high standards of sampling and data equivalence. Its data are made available on-line with equal access to all, and have already attracted over 20,000 users.…

Data collected in school settings are inherently hierarchical. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly common for interventions to be implemented within the context of a similar multitiered intervention framework where different interventions are provided at different levels of the hierarchy, often simultaneously. This prevalence of…

In recent times many educational researchers have moved away from the traditional purist approach of strictly adopting either a qualitative or quantitative approach to conducting research. Instead they have attempted an eclectic mix of both methods in their research inquiry, combining aspects of both the traditions at various stages of their…

Second-order conditioning (SOC) is the association of a neutral stimulus with another stimulus that had previously been combined with an unconditioned stimulus (US). We used classical conditioning of the proboscis extension response (PER) in honeybees ("Apis mellifera") with odors (CS) and sugar (US). Previous SOC experiments in bees were…

The state of California passed the Smoke-Free Workplace Act on January 1, 1995. This legislation effectively banned indoor smoking in all public and private workplaces including restaurants. Many restaurant owners, especially owners of restaurants that served alcohol, opposed the ban for fear that their businesses would be affected adversely…

Policy interest in international surveys on Adult Learning (AL) has increased strongly. AL survey data are used as benchmarks for a country's educational system. However, results of key indicators like participation in learning activities often vary remarkably between different data sources. Stating that these differences are due to varying…

This article is designed to provide the reader with three different designs from which to choose when planning a possible publication for the "GSCA Journal". The first focuses on writing up the best practices school counselors already utilize. The second suggests using a six-step accountability model to document the data of student outcomes. The…

Improvements in motor sequence performance have been observed after a delay involving sleep. This finding has been taken as evidence for an active sleep consolidation process that enhances subsequent performance. In a review of this literature, however, the authors observed 4 aspects of data analyses and experimental design that could lead to…

This review focuses on what the author terms a reconsideration of the working credentials of the randomly controlled trial (RCT) design, and includes a discussion of popularly accepted aspects as well as some new perspectives. The author concludes that there is nothing either Imperative or superior about the need for RCT designs, and that an…