Describes a method for analyzing learning that takes place through dialogue, which requires voice analysis and attention to the connection between speaker and speech and between speech parts and whole. Presents three stages of analysis: limiting the object of discussion, analyzing utterances, and identifying individual self-realization. (SK)

Presents analysis, graphs, and tables on trends in enrollment of foreign students at U.S. higher education institutions, noting a 2 percent increase last year. Identifies institutions with the largest number of foreign students, top countries of student origin, student characteristics, and number of foreign students by state. Notes the need for a…

Reports on a quantitative categorical analysis of metadata elements in the Dublin Core, VRA (Visual Resource Association) Core, REACH (Record Export for Art and Cultural Heritage), and EAD (Encoded Archival Description) metadata schemas, all of which can be used for organizing and describing images. Introduces a new schema comparison methodology…

Aspects of Data Fusion (DF) for information retrieval are explored. Based on a geometrical model of DF, it is shown that in the ideal case, performance of DF for a pair of information retrieval schemes may be approximated by a quadratic polynomial. Compares counter-intuitive cases of DF with cases that behave according to the geometric model. (AEF)

Describes a preliminary research project that applies Personal Construct Theory to user perceptions of photographs. While some problems associated with Repertory Grids for subject content analysis are identified, findings indicate they provide a useful method for collecting unbiased data about what users see in visual images and for comparing user…

A classification and taxonomy are used to analyze responses from systems analysts in real-world situations. Systems analysts were given a questionnaire in attempt to: (1) determine whether requirements descriptor terms are created and used in real world situations so that they might classify domain processes and objects; (2) if terms are used, try…

Discusses the strengths and weaknesses of administrative databases, issues with their implementation and data analysis, and effective presentation of their data at different levels in child welfare organizations. Focuses on the development and implementation of Washington state's Children's Administration's administrative database, the Case and…

Describes the use of administrative data in support of a project to develop outcome measures for the Children and Youth Division of the Department of Human Services in Philadelphia, focusing on safety and permanency indicators for the in-home services program. Considers issues of data file construction and analysis, baseline results for in-home…

Examines the historical and larger context of data mining and describes data mining processes, techniques, and tools. Illustrates these using a child welfare dataset concerning the employee turnover that is mined, using logistic regression and a Bayesian neural network. Discusses the data mining process, the resulting models, their predictive…

Discusses how to make instructional improvement decisions using data-based assessment. Describes three steps in using data-based assessment: developing the right questions, collecting and analyzing the data, and providing staff support to make effective use of the data. Effective use of assessment data requires both quality data and sufficient…

Objective: A pilot study to evaluate the efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral group therapy program for adolescents with social phobia, simplified both in terms of time and labor intensity from a previously studied program (Social Effectiveness Therapy for Children and Adolescents) to be more appropriate for a community outpatient psychiatric…

Process approaches to writing instruction in primary-grade classrooms have become widespread due to the influence of Graves (1983), Calkins (1986), Avery (1993), and others. Their work emphasizes expressive writing, particularly personal narrative, more than expository or informational writing. As a consequence, expressive writing is what children…

The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Third Edition (D. Wechsler, 1991; WISC-III) is often used to identify subtest-based cognitive strengths and weaknesses that are subsequently used to generate interventions. Given that intelligence is presumed to be an enduring trait, cognitive strengths and weaknesses identified via subtest analysis…

Allowing students to choose the question(s) that they will answer from among several possible alternatives is often viewed as a mechanism for increasing fairness in certain types of assessments. The fairness of optional topic choice is not a universally accepted fact, however, and various studies have been done to assess this question. We examine…

Imagine administering an online standardized test to an entire class of 11th-grade students when, halfway through the exam, the server holding the test hits a snag and throws everyone offline. Imagine another scenario in which an elementary school has very few computers so teachers must bus their students to the local high school for a timed test.…