PSYCOM is a unique mixed media package which combines high interest projects on the computer with a written text of expository material. It goes beyond most computer-assisted instruction which emphasizes drill and practice and testing of knowledge. A project might consist of a simulation or an actual experiment, or it might be a demonstration, a…

This study is the eighth in a series of reports of longitudinal research on the long-term effects of participation versus nonparticipation in a program of high quality early childhood education, on 123 black youths from families of low socioeconomic status, who were at risk of failing in school. The study finds that young people up to 19 years of…

A study examined the role higher education institutions play through their educational strategy in supporting student retention. Educational strategy was defined as patterns of institutional practices designed to support undergraduate education, and the question posed was: Do the practices a college implements at the institutional level to support…

To fulfill its mandate and its potential the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) must be a multi-content annual assessment of priority learning areas. This report describes a procedure under which measures of attainment can be charted over time in a broad range of skill domains, on item-invariant item response theory scales, using…

Rural-urban fiscal and demographic differences were identified in local governments of Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania. Census data and a classification system of urban and rural counties were used to analyze differences in local government revenue/expenditure levels and patterns, expenditure categories, population change,…

The process of focus-finding in qualitative research is ongoing and dynamic, involves researcher choices and decisions (rather than pure discovery), and is a process of social construction in which the researcher interacts with the research setting. Focus-finding is discussed in the context of a qualitative research study of the integration of…

The IEA Study of Writing was prepared in response to an increased concern for an interest in world literacy. Additional issues addressed were: (1) setting learning in the context of the cultural framework, curricular emphases and teaching practices, rather than just determining the level of achievement, and (2) making it possible for each…

the factors which maximize response rates, both through reducing refusals and increasing the probability that respondents will be available for interview, were studied in rural California. Phone directories were used to generate a sample of 250 households who were contacted on either of two evenings or Saturday. The interview questions concerned…

A feasibility plan is presented for a California comprehensive student information study that would identify factors affecting students' progress through California's entire educational system. The feasibility plan identifies: (1) potential improvements, (2) the study design required to achieve them, (3) the cost of implementing the design,…

Hypothetical data sets are used to demonstrate how canonical correlation methods subsume other commonly utilized parametric methods. Analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, multiple analysis of variance, and multiple analysis of covariance are heavily used by educational researchers. It is concluded that researchers would do well to consider…

This paper summarizes and highlights some of the critical developments, issues, and trends which impact the work of survey research. The issue of preventing or minimizing nonresponse bias by successfully obtaining cooperation from people being surveyed continues to be of concern to survey research professionals. The most effective response rate…

Public schools in the big cities and urban areas will become proportionally more minority and poor in the 1980's and 1990's. The traditional measures used to collect data on minority population have proved to be inaccurate. The following items are needed and will be of value to people working in urban public schools: (1) data which distinguish…

This paper sketches seven activities that the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) should pay attention to over the next few years as it attempts to provide accurate and complete data on the elementary and secondary education system of the United States. The activities are: (1) act aggressively to meet the major problems of data…

Sensitivity to context variables marks the third phase of effective schools research (ESR). The first phase was one of explicit concern for equity, challenging the works of Coleman and Jencks which suggested that achievement differences were more associated with family background than school variables. This research focused on low socioeconomic…

This manual is the result of a regional training workshop on the cost-effectiveness of different training strategies in population education by Unesco in Kathmandu, Nepal, June 1-8, 1987. The purpose of the manual is to enable project staff to initiate studies to determine cost-effective training strategies in population growth control education.…