Most libraries involved to any extent with total quality management (TQM) realize that successfully gathering information from their customers is the key to improving services. To do this libraries must employ a variety of methodologies, both quantitative and qualitative research. Quantitative primary data is usually collected in libraries by…

Papers by graduate students, and occasionally papers from their mentors which establish a context for the student papers, are organized by sponsoring University. Student papers presented are: (1) "An Overview of the Development Stages in Children's Drawings" (Jeralyn Hufford); (2) "Theories and Activities of Conceptual Artists: An Aesthetic…

This paper describes the use of qualitative observation techniques for gathering and analyzing data related to group processes during an Accelerated Schools Model training session. The purposes for this research were to observe the training process in order better to facilitate present continuation and future training, to develop questions for…

Risk factors associated with the unsuccessful discharge from a secondary-level therapeutic day treatment program of students with serious emotional/behavioral disorders (E/BD) were studied. The use of epidemiologic analysis as a program evaluation method was also investigated by comparing risks associated with identified characteristics of the…

This literature review has the goals of: (1) reviewing and summarizing the existing research literature on factors which influence the success of collaboration; and (2) reporting the results of the research literature review so that people who want to initiate or enhance a collaborative effort can benefit from the experience of others. The review…

The multimethod approach used to collect a assessment data at the local and state levels for the Louisiana Teacher Assessment Program is described. This program develops information about a new teacher's competence that can be used to suggest instructional improvement activities and to decide on qualifications for certification. The first…

Tennessee has adopted a model of educational accountability called the Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System (TVAAS). The model attempts to measure district, school, and teacher effects on student academic gains, rather than emphasizing achievement scores at a single time, using data generated by a standardized test, the Tennessee Comprehensive…

This booklet provides some systematic guidelines for assisting educational planners to discriminate between high-quality educational research and research that should not be relied on for decision making. The guidelines focus on educational research studies that employ either experimental or survey-research methodologies. A checklist is presented…

This three-part study uses Afrocentric theory and a multidimensional method to synthesize and apply selected theories and research presented in the past two decades to define and address the broad instructional needs of African-American children. The overall educational impact of this social and cultural movement was assessed by extracting…

This paper outlines a comprehensive approach to uncovering the process of second language acquisition, entitled Interlanguage Analysis (IA), and defines the features and aims of this analysis. IA regards the transitional linguistic system from the learner's first language (L1) to the target language (TL) as interlanguage (IL). Language acquisition…

In 1990, Milwaukee (Wisconsin) became the site of the first publicly funded school-choice program providing low-income parents with vouchers that could be used to send their children to secular, private schools. An evaluation of Milwaukee's school-choice experiment was conducted by a team of researchers, headed by John Witte at the University of…

The book is an introduction to the field of contrastive rhetoric, an area of research in second language learning that identifies learners' problems in composition and attempts to explain them by referring to the rhetorical strategies of the first language. It traces the history of contrastive approaches to the study of second language writing and…

Expectancy-valence models are used most in the field of motivational psychology. However, teachers' motivation had not been studied by these models and only limited research exists assessing the expectancy and the valence constructs. This study's aim was to examine preservice teachers' and practicing teachers' motivation by the expectancy-valence…

The National Household Education Survey (NHES) is a data collection system of the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) that is designed to address a wide range of education-related issues through telephone surveys. It provides descriptive data on the educational activities of the U.S. population and offers a variety of educational…

This paper focuses on the application of total quality management (TQM) in human resources development. It analyzes writings of five leading total quality authors from which four basic principles, or pillars, are derived as the basis for the application of total quality within the instructional setting. The pillars are: (1) customer satisfaction;…