Purpose: This study explores the effects of participation in a program designed to enrich friendship and reduce loneliness among women in later life. Several hypotheses based on the need to belong, socioemotional selectivity theory, and the social compensation model were tested. Design and Methods: Study 1 involved two measurement points, one at…

This study investigated the effectiveness of combining conceptual change text and discussion web strategies on students' understanding of photosynthesis and respiration in plants. Students' conceptual understanding of photosynthesis and respiration in plants was measured using the two-tier diagnostic test developed by Haslam and Treagust (1987,…

Two experiments examined reliability and classification accuracy of a narration-based dynamic assessment task. Purpose: The first experiment evaluated whether parallel results were obtained from stories created in response to 2 different wordless picture books. If so, the tasks and measures would be appropriate for assessing pretest and posttest…

The aim of this study was to compare the acquisition of the van Hiele levels of sixth-grade students engaged in instruction using a reform-based curriculum with sixth-grade students engaged in instruction using a traditional curriculum. There were 273 sixth-grade mathematics students, 123 in the control group and 150 in the treatment group,…

Under the "Math Science Partnership Grant," the Maui Hawaii Educational Consortium sought scientifically based evidence for the effectiveness of Carnegie Learning's "Cognitive Tutor[R]" (CT) program as part of the adoption process for pre-Algebra program. During the 2006-2007 school year, the researchers conducted a follow-on…

Objective: The authors analyze the occurrence of grade repetition and inattention in children diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Method: The participant group consisted of 310 patients with NF1 and a control group of 242 individuals. The number of grade repetitions for each participant during his or her time in elementary, middle, and…

This report summarizes the National Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Study, which examined the impact of Title IIA of JTPA on participants' employment, earnings, and welfare receipt. Between 1987 and 1989, more than 20,000 adults and out-of-school youths who applied for JTPA services in 16 areas across the country were randomly assigned to a…

Empowerment theory suggests that changes in beliefs and attitudes contribute to the participation of individuals in social change. It assumes that in order for individuals to work for the collective good, they must develop a sense of critical consciousness. This study uses experimental methods to test the application of this theory to the Latino…

This study attempts to determine whether there exists a negative interconnection between the creative and testable nature-of-science (NOS) conceptions in college students' conceptual ecology by investigating, through a pair of IHV-assisted teaching experiments, the effect of raising the status of each NOS conception in students' conceptual ecology…

This paper reports a study that investigated the development of second language (L2) communication strategies (code-switching, all-purpose words, word coinage, approximation, and circumlocution) over time. In the study, 8 adult learners in a full-time English as a second language program provided oral narrations of an eight-frame picture story at…

In evaluation research studies, it often occurs that several program participants (experimentals) drop out of the program prior to completion. Since noncompleters generally differ substantially from completers in many respects, a control group which originally was representative of the participant group will most likely not be representative of…

There exists the practical possibility of randomly selected control groups for outcome assessments in mental health programs. Ethical considerations for randomization include distinguishing between innovation and "fooling around," and discriminatory implications of a first-come first-served selection procedure. Practical considerations include…

A rationale is presented for the "control items" technique, the technique of using control (nonexperimental) test items to provide a baseline for estimating the effects indicated by scores on the experimental test items. For evaluating the effects of a curriculum, a test can be made of two types of items--ones that test explicit program objectives…

CONTRARY TO THE OPINION OF MANY PEOPLE, PROJECT HEADSTART (HS) IS NOT A STABLE AND UNIFORM PROGRAM WHICH DEALS WITH AN EASILY DEFINABLE POPULATION. THERE ARE, THEREFORE, SEVERAL PROBLEMS WHICH EXIST IN CONNECTION WITH EVALUATIVE RESEARCH CONCERNED WITH HS. IN ORDER TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE IN PROGRAM PLANNING, THIS RESEARCH SEEKS TO DESCRIBE POTENTIAL…

THE EARLY TRAINING PROJECT IS A FIELD RESEARCH STUDY WHICH IS CONCERNED WITH THE PROBLEM OF THE PROGRESSIVE RETARDATION OF THE CULTURALLY DEPRIVED IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. THE CHILDREN INVOLVED IN THE STUDY WERE ALL NEGRO. FROM A GROUP OF 61 CULTURALLY DEPRIVED NEGRO PRESCHOOL CHILDREN, 3 GROUPS WERE CONSTITUTED BY RANDOMIZATION. THE FIRST OF THESE…