Fourth in a series of seven volumes reporting the design, methodology, and findings of the 4-year National Day Care Home Study (NDCHS), this volume presents findings obtained from interviews with parents of children attending family day care. The central aim of the parent component of the NDCHS was to obtain descriptions of parents' needs,…

This publication will help high school and college students develop policy analysis skills and techniques and apply these to important public issues. A public policy issue is defined as a disagreement between two or more elements of a society over the way that the society's government deals with a given situation. There are six chapters. Chapter…

The proposed research will thoroughly document the experiences of a small number of fifth grade children in an elementary school computer laboratory using LOGO, an advanced computer language designed for children. This documentation of a LOGO learning experience will offer specific information about the use of current advanced educational…

There exists the practical possibility of randomly selected control groups for outcome assessments in mental health programs. Ethical considerations for randomization include distinguishing between innovation and "fooling around," and discriminatory implications of a first-come first-served selection procedure. Practical considerations include…

This report reviews the major lines of investigation of the Kamehameha Early Education Program (KEEP) for the period 1971-75. A brief introductory section describes the selection of initial research strategies, identification of problems, issues in research design (such as internal versus external validity) and problems pertaining to the process…

Objectives of the National Indian Management Service of America's (NIMA) workplan for a two-year survey investigating the need for educational services among adult American Indians in the U.S. include the following: to provide for a basic survey to define accurately the extent of the problems of illiteracy and lack of high school completion; to…

The explicit goal of most educational information or resource centers, is to assist clients in obtaining and utilizing information to improve educational practice and aid in educational decision making. As the number of services has increased, the need to systematically assess them has become critical. Previous efforts have been limited and…

With the view that social scientists conduct too little exploratory research, the author outlines the methods and attitudes of the exploratory analyst and describes the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) as a source of research data. Exploratory analysis, in which no paradigm is used, is contrasted with confirmatory research, which…

Tables showing the types of Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) products and their dispersion provide background information for the executive summaries of usage study design reports focusing on three levels: (1) system operations; (2) subscribers to the services provided; and (3) the ultimate "end-users" of the service. The…

This paper presents the Discrepancy Evaluation Model (DEM) as an overall strategy or framework for both the improvement and assessment of effectiveness of simulation/games. While application of the evaluation model to simulation/games rather than educational programs requires modification of the model, its critical features remain. These include:…

A rationale is presented for the "control items" technique, the technique of using control (nonexperimental) test items to provide a baseline for estimating the effects indicated by scores on the experimental test items. For evaluating the effects of a curriculum, a test can be made of two types of items--ones that test explicit program objectives…

This review of the literature on employer satisfaction with vocational education graduates is based on a search for representative studies with different methodologies and from different sources. Observations made are organized into four basic categories: (1) theoretical considerations in conducting research; (2) methodological considerations in…

Child Parent Centers (CPC) have been established in selected disadvantaged areas to provide systematic educational experiences for preschool children as young as three years of age. This study provides an update on the current state of the CPC and its latest adaption, the Child Parent Expansion (CPX) Program. A three-year, longitudinal evaluation…

CONTRARY TO THE OPINION OF MANY PEOPLE, PROJECT HEADSTART (HS) IS NOT A STABLE AND UNIFORM PROGRAM WHICH DEALS WITH AN EASILY DEFINABLE POPULATION. THERE ARE, THEREFORE, SEVERAL PROBLEMS WHICH EXIST IN CONNECTION WITH EVALUATIVE RESEARCH CONCERNED WITH HS. IN ORDER TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE IN PROGRAM PLANNING, THIS RESEARCH SEEKS TO DESCRIBE POTENTIAL…

Offering a synthesis of research and thought on the notion of newsreading as a form of play, this paper focuses on newsreading as a symbolic action of incorporating cultural attitudes by reading a newspaper. Sections of the paper discuss the following topics: (1) play, culture, and communication--defining play in its cultural and communicative…