In this article, the authors seek to re-conceptualize the perspective regarding students' difficulties with algebra. While acknowledging that students "do" have difficulties when learning algebra, they also argue that the generally espoused criteria for algebra as the ability to work with the syntactical rules for solving equations is…

What issues do distance education (DE) leaders believe will influence the future of DE? What are their colleges' DE strategies? This qualitative study compares DE strategic thinking and strategic choices at three community colleges. Two propositions are investigated: (1) each college's DE leaders use common strategic mental models (ways of…

This paper describes in detail the narrative approach taken in a study of a particular facet of learning in the workplace--how people make sense of change. In unstructured in-depth interviews, employees were encouraged to tell their stories about their organisations, revealing details about the organisational culture and the ways in which this…

This research focused on students' learning of mathematical rules with reasoning. A small group of students (age 11-12 yrs) was observed closely by the first author as she taught them fraction rules. The area of focus was fractions and activities were designed pertaining to the four rules of fractions: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and…

Grouse Creek is a small Mormon ranching community in the extreme northwest corner of Utah. A survey of that community was conducted during 1985 by a team of folklorists, architectural historians, and historians, with the purpose of testing the idea of combining in the same fieldwork a concern for architecture, folk arts, and folklife. The work was…

Observation of teacher classroom performance can provide insights into the steps necessary to improve pedagogical practice. Data from over 13,000 field observations of Florida teachers over a 2-year period revealed parallel performance patterns across grade levels and years among 40 behavioral indicators. The study used the Florida Performance…

This book uses an ethnographic approach to collect and analyze patterns of language and culture that affect interracial communication and culture. The study selects patterns of behavior, or elements within patterns, and maps black and white cognitive territory in order to reveal the cultural reasons for communications difficulties. The book…

This article reports on the development, internal consistency, and reliability of a new preschool and kindergarten classroom observational measure based on NAEYC's Guidelines for Developmentally Appropriate Practices. The Classroom Practices Inventory (CPI) is a 26-item rating scale tapping the curricular emphasis and emotional climate of programs…

Applications of the qualitative approach in the evaluation of special education and second language programs are addressed in this paper. Qualitative data are recommended for providing detailed descriptions of specific program elements, and can be obtained through interviews, observations, case studies, and ethnographic studies. Six evaluation…

This manual is designed to provide Tennessee School administrators and supervisors with the information needed to understand the revised Career Ladder Evaluation System, and prepare them for the evaluation at Career Levels I and II. The manual covers the following information: (1) improvements of the revised system; (2) assumptions and principles;…

This document is an orientation manual for the Library Media Specialist Evaluation System, a part of the Tennessee Career Ladder Better Schools Program. This evaluation system was developed by using the best ideas from educational research and from library media specialists in Tennessee. The system was field tested in the fall of 1985. Contained…

Phase III of the Louisiana School Effectiveness Study (LSES-III) was designed in part to obtain rich, qualitative data on the characteristics of more and less effective schools in the Gulf South. Data were gathered on eight matched outlier pairs of schools during the 1984-1985 school year. Of the eight historically ineffective schools in LSES-III,…

A writing folder is a resource tool which has been designed to reflect the phases of the writing process and which complements other classroom strategies and teaching methods used to enhance the understanding of this process. A field test was conducted during the 1985-86 school year to gather information on the use of writing folders in 78 North…

Advantages of the performance simulation setting are considered, along with what can be studied or developed within this setting. Experiences at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and views on future development and research opportunities in the performance simulation setting are also discussed. The benefits of simulating the clinical…

This paper reports the results of a Monte Carlo investigation of Type I errors in the single group repeated measures design where multiple measures are collected from each observational unit at each measurement occasion. The Type I error of three multivariate tests were examined. These were the doubly multivariate F test, the multivariate mixed…