Reports on a survey of the perceptions of Solihull secondary school teachers of the booklet "Evaluating the School: A Guide for Secondary Schools in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull" and of school self-evaluation generally. Evidence from the survey is that little change in schools has resulted from the use of the booklet. (Author/CT)

The underrepresentation of Blacks in higher education in the state must be remedied by increasing the pool of potential colleagues, not by shifting hiring patterns. The Indiana Commission for Higher Education study of minority student participation in higher education is discussed. (MLW)

A look at recent enrollment trends (including projected declines) is provided. The feared decline in postsecondary enrollments has not yet occurred; however, other economic, demographic, and social pressures contributed to the changing the character of the postsecondary student body. (MLW)

Describes three experiments measuring changes in children's social speech which used the presence or absence of partitions allowing partial visual contact to alter verbal communication contingencies between players. Altered levels of speech and specificity confirm importance of physical environmental factors in regulation of children's play. (MBR)

Reviews the state of the art in research synthesis, and presents a conventional literary review, a meta-analysis, and a replicated secondary data analysis on the health and well being relationship in four articles. The two concluding commentaries elaborate and extend these issues and discuss problems and potential involved in research synthesis.…

A methodology is described for conducting qualitative research on gender issues in education. Qualitative research, a critical step for achieving the global Education For All (EFA) goals, will assist identifying the issues, analyzing the contents, and formulating viable policy. "Gender" refers to the social roles and responsibilities that belong…

This study explores the intersection of placement in foster care and the emotional disturbance (ED) classification. It compares the demographic, placement, and educational experiences of students in foster care who are classified with an emotional disturbance (ED) with students in care who have other special education classifications, and with…

A collaborative action research project with preservice teachers built on Wood's (2003) paper on strategy reporting, inquiry and argumentation and the NSW Department of Education and Training documents called substantive communication. There is little research on argumentation about space mathematics in primary schools so this is the focus of the…

Six Sigma is an organization wide program that provides common set of goals, language, and methodology for improving the overall quality of the processes within the organization (Davis & Heineke 2004). Six Sigma main concern is for the customer. What will the customers want? Need? Six Sigma has a model that helps Sigma get implemented DMAIC model…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) holds states, districts, and schools accountable for student achievement. NCLB requires regular assessments to mark progress and highlight weaknesses in core academic subjects. Assessment results must be reported in the aggregate and disaggregated by individual subgroups of students. Research shows that…

This report is the fifth analysis of state reports to examine the extent to which states publicly report information about students with disabilities in statewide assessments. The report describes statewide testing systems and evaluates whether these systems include participation and performance information for students with disabilities. It finds…

Schools are realizing that carefully collected and analyzed data represent the key to educational improvement. This digest outlines the most useful types of data to drive the school-improvement process, steps that must be taken to collect and analyze data, the role of administrators in guiding the data-driven reform process, and results that can…

This volume includes six papers from the 1999 and 2000 Summer Data Conferences that address a variety of educational finance topics intended to promote the exchange of ideas among researchers and policymakers. After the introduction and overview by William J. Fowler, Jr., the six essays are: (1) "Evaluating School Performance: Are We Ready for…

A survey of informal learning among 318 teachers and HRD professionals was conducted. Analysis of the data found that teachers rely to a greater extent on interactive informal learning activities while HRD professionals rely to a greater extent on independent learning activities. Data analysis also found that six environmental factors inhibit…

This guide provides users of the National Household Education Survey (NHES) data with suggested techniques for working with the data files. Special attention is paid to topics that will help users avoid the most commonly made mistakes in working with NHES data. The guide is meant to be an introduction and an overview, and not a substitute for the…