Of all the areas within public elementary and secondary education that are experiencing rapid change, none is experiencing more turmoil than school finance. This publication contains papers commissioned by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to address the twin concerns of what additional school-finance information NCES should…

The Board on International Comparative Studies in Education monitors U.S. participation in cross-national comparative studies in education and provides advice to sponsoring agencies. This document results from the Board's consideration of studies that would enrich plans for international studies. What the Board believes to be the value of…

A paradigm for the recalibration of teacher-made assessment that assesses and evaluates in one operation is formulated. The effort to make the classroom the primary source of educational research activity is contingent on redefining educational research as empirical and not experimental. This emphasizes that the empirical analysis of instructional…

This paper examines 22 empirical computer-assisted language learning (CALL) studies published between 1989 and 1994, and 13 reviews and syntheses published between 1987 and 1992, pertaining to CALL in higher education in the United States. A "three streams" framework helps to place CALL in a larger context and illustrate its several…

This document summarizes research on curriculum renewal efforts in small rural schools in the Northwest. The Northwest region includes Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. Curriculum renewal involves activities aimed at meeting state reform standards and educational improvement initiatives. An examination of accreditation standards…

A study examined students' achievement increases to determine whether improvement resulted from spending a longer amount of time on language arts. Subjects of the study were 149 freshmen who attended Northeast Dubois Middle and High Schools in Indiana. During the eighth grade, 77 of those students had one 45-minute language arts period in 1992 and…

Typically, teacher research is conducted because teachers want to have some questions answered. Starting effective teacher research begins by framing the question in a way that will yield the best research. Three important suggestions when framing teacher research questions are as follows: the question needs to be open ended enough to allow…

This paper discusses the effectiveness of mediated instructional strategies in culturally and linguistically diverse learning environments, focusing on the use of computer-mediated instruction and its relationship to various learning styles. It examines learning style dimensions and reviews related literature on the relationship between…

Noting that understanding the contexts, continuities, and controversies of early childhood education is a particularly challenging task because of the diversity of the field, this book provides a critical examination of the issues and controversies surrounding early childhood practices, policies, and professional development. The book's chapters…

During 1996, the Center for Adult and Continuing Education (CACE) at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa, was in a process of rapid transition. Staff participated in a retreat during which a vision of CACE's work was rebuilt. CACE staff were closely involved with the Western and Northern Cape Provinces Departments of Education in the…

These conference papers report on interim outcomes of investigations conducted at the German Institute for International Educational Research. An opening address, "Education, Democracy and Development in a Period of Revolutionary Change" (Wolfgang Mitter), is followed by four sets of papers. The first set, "European Community,"…

Educational needs and interests of seniors and professionals were studied in relation to abuse and mistreatment of older adults in Saskatchewan, Canada. A triangulated approach involved three data collection instruments: telephone questionnaire interviews, focus group meetings, and key informant telephone interviews. Older adults, aged 55 and…

A 1993 study examined the range of opportunities that Open College Network (OCN) accreditation offered to learners with learning difficulties and disabilities in Great Britain. It examined OCN quality processes, including recognition panels, moderation, and internal quality systems. Information was gathered from the National Open College Network,…

The operation of the U.S. Army's Reserve Components (RC) school system was assessed. Three areas were identified that were fundamental to the system where organizational changes could make a difference. First, the project assessed training requirements and school delivery of courses. In serving a sizable training requirement for reclassification…

A project conducted in Tennessee from 1984 through 1989, Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (Project STAR), serves as a context for a discussion of educational research. The decisions required in major research projects and the problems in carrying out research are seldom discussed in conferences that present research results as completed efforts.…