Employing a split-half design, this research examines the effects of prior letters, in conjunction with a follow-up telephone survey, on three factors affecting evaluation results: contact rates, response rates, and respondent cooperation. Prior letters did not increase contact, improve cooperation, or decrease refusals. (Author/LMO)

Examined three methods which can be used to pool single-item-per-subject data collected in intensive time-series studies, determining if method of pooling has an effect on subsequent data analysis. Methods examined were based on simple averaging, difficulty weightings of averages, and the application of the Rasch logistic model. (JM)

The need to attend to both methodological and social concerns is demonstrated in two examples: one where the unchecked effects of the social consequences of a methodologically rigorous research design invalidated the evaluation and a second where explicit trade-offs between methodological rigor and social costs enabled the evaluation to proceed.…

A study which compared two groups of college students--transfers and natives--and attributed the lower academic achievement of the transfer students to their community college experience is critiqued. The study results are not valid because the groups compared are not equivalent. An alternative approach for studying transfer students is suggested.…

Intended to help people understand the experience of developing a research project and of carrying out its early stages, this article describes Project Athens, which studied factors affecting the development of a sense of political efficacy among college students. (RM)

Offers suggestions for future research in English education which need to be considered if English education is to be viewed, studied, and implemented as an entity of importance to the total curriculum. (HOD)

Educational research can indeed avoid being shaped by political or social ideologies; an objective reality is present in the fundamental processes of education and remains the valid object of educational research. (JW)

This paper describes the design of the interdisciplinary study of the growth and development of Dutch children in progress at the University of Nymegen, The Netherlands. Schaie's design is based on a trifactorial model which isolates the contributions to developmental data of the factors age, cohort and time of measurement. (Author/MS)

This brief looks at the research on full-day kindergarten and reports how states and districts are implementing this strategy. It also identifies some of the concerns they must address in doing so, and offers policy considerations. It also focuses specifically on findings from seven recent studies--one each from 1988 and 1991, the rest…

This research and policy brief draws on the experiences in five states, each of which has been the subject of a comprehensive arts education survey in recent years. The states are Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Washington. Distilled from the "lessons learned," the brief provides 20 principles designed to inform and…

Background: For more than 30 years since 1972, the Government of Japan has contributed funds to UNESCO for implementation of the Mobile Training Team (MTT) projects. The MTT assists Member States enhance their capacity in development oriented educational innovation through intra-country study visits, training courses, workshops and technical…

This chapter presents the shift in perspectives about schooling embodied in the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' (NCTM) Standards-based reform movement, describes the impact of these shifts on the types of questions that need to be answered, and defines the ways in which scholarly evidence needs to be developed. Issues of concern…

This chapter elaborates on some guidelines for and methodological variations of action research approaches to the study and creation of change in mathematics education. Focus is on the interplay between evolving research on and change in mathematics practice that occurred in schools and classrooms of experienced high school mathematics teachers.…

This report describes and evaluates the methods and procedures used for the field test of the Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:2000/01). The B&B:2000/01 field test included important changes from previous B&B surveys (conducted in 1994 and 1997) in its sample design and collection of data. The introductory chapter…