This report summarizes the problems schools are encountering as they try to use data to gauge the effectiveness of standards-based education, accountability efforts, and school reform. It provides an overview of the education market, discusses the strengths and weaknesses of available software, and describes systems used by 19 states. The article…

Is Ohio losing its best and brightest minds? That's what is often implied by some well-publicized data on college graduates who move to other states after graduation. But what do these data actually tell us? This Commentary shows that they do not paint a complete picture of the emerging class of graduates, much less the state's workforce. States…

Traditional word problems have not fulfilled the goal of mathematical sense-making for many students. Some studies have shown that authentic contexts, such as model-eliciting tasks, have the potential to engage students in making sense of realistic situations. However, there has been little research on the kinds of knowledge needed by teachers to…

This paper explores the unique curriculum design issues involved with the integration of qualitative data analysis software (QDAS) in online instruction of qualitative research. The Qualitative Research III--Analysis course was designed for graduate students and offered in a blended online format using the NVivo[R] software program and the…

Useful as a classroom text and self-teaching tool, this book outlines the process of designing and reporting action research projects in schools. The underlying assumption of the book is that research is not a domain that belongs only to academics, but is a powerful approach that can be used by practitioners to contribute to school renewal and…

This textbook covering the basic techniques of systems analysis targeted to the librarian or information professional contains the following chapters: (1) Understanding Systems Analysis; (2) The Historical Development of Systems Analysis; (3) The Human Element; (4) Identifying and Defining Problems; (5) Collecting Data; (6) Analyzing and…

This companion database to the Mathematics Comparison Study consists of the entire set of all the general and specific outcomes that were referenced in the report. The database is being released in response to requests made during the review of the draft document in June, 1999, for more information. In the main report, only codings for the general…

Advances in cognitive psychology deepen the understanding of how students gain and use knowledge and broaden the range of performances and situations researchers want to see to acquire evidence about students' developing knowledge. Advances in technology make it possible to capture more complex performances in assessment settings by including, as…

The purpose of this study was to examine current attitudes and knowledge of pre-service teachers towards assistive technology and to develop, implement, and evaluate a mini-workshop on assistive technology to better prepare regular classroom teachers for the inclusive classroom. A pre-post survey design was used. Data from the pre-survey provided…

This paper describes several methodological decisions made during a study of linguistic development of French in British classroom learners, highlighting the significance of choosing suitable tools for collecting, transcribing, and analyzing oral interlanguage data and noting the usefulness for interlanguage research of the CHILDES (Child Language…

This paper uses the data from a longitudinal study to assess the impact of technology introduction in liberal arts education at a non-technical small private university in the United States. The data was collected over four academic years, and this "post hoc" analysis uses the data collected in the spring of 1999 from a sample of students who…

This report describes the methods and procedures used for the 2000 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:2000). NPSAS:2000 included notable changes from previous NPSAS surveys (conducted in 1987, 1990, 1993, and 1996) in its sample design and collection of data. For example, this study is the first to restrict institutional sampling to…

Acknowledging the need for additional practical resources for integrating technology into physical education assessment, this paper provides strategies and step-by-step instructions for incorporating Microsoft Excel into physical educators' assessment tools. The first section briefly reviews the literature on assessment in physical education. The…

This paper reports the results of the Special Study Survey completed by 370 member institutions of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education in conjunction with the Professional Education Data System (PEDS) survey in fall 2001. The purpose of the survey was to identify and describe the approaches schools, colleges, and departments…

This how-to guide to classroom inquiry takes educators through the process step-by-step, from beginning to end, answering critical questions on developing the research plan, collecting and analyzing the data, and writing and publishing the results. Seven chapters include: (1) "Teacher Inquiry Defined" (e.g., what teacher inquiry is and how it…