Examines theories of interpretation in light of racial issues and the understanding that race is one of several "communities of meaning." Argues that, as systems of understanding, hermeneutic theories need interrogation from the point of view of the ideology of race and the practices of racial discrimination. (JB)

Discusses a shift in administration and decision making at colleges and universities since 1975 towards substantially more use of data and analysis to respond to such constituencies as federal agencies, state legislators, students, and donors. Urges the use of research to respond to new policy questions, such as appropriate rates of withdrawal…

Responds to a critique by Mudford, Hogg, and Roberts (1997) that raised concerns about the observation code used in a longitudinal research project to assess emerging behavior state patterns in young children with disabilities. Concerns about the thoroughness of the reliability data collected by Mudford are discussed. (Author/CR)

Provides a procedure for interpreting the Campbell Interest and Skills Survey (CISS) and illustrates how it might be used to generate hypotheses during the counseling process. Examines the responses of a 29-year-old female high school teacher to the CISS. Addresses issues to be explored in counseling. (Author/MKA)

Presents and responds to questions the author would ask himself before meeting with a client whose Self-Directed Search he has reviewed. The client in the case is a 29-year-old female high school teacher faced with four occupational opportunities from which she is trying to make a choice. (MKA)

A study involving three individuals (ages 13-20) with developmental disabilities and problem behaviors examined the influential role that unanticipated idiosyncratic stimulus variables play in affecting the outcome of a functional analysis. Guidelines are discussed concerning when to suspect that idiosyncratic stimuli might be acting to influence…

This commentary on the previous article on an interpretive research approach discusses the journey of a researcher from radical behaviorism, to interpretive social science, to an emerging viewpoint in which art more than science is used as a way of seeing issues related to disability, education, and change. (Contains 10 references.) (CR)

Explores secondary school staffs' use of value added data, summarizing evidence emerging from other studies on how value added data are used by schools and questions this raises. The paper discusses findings and issues that emerged from a recent National Foundation for Educational Research-funded project that explored the potential role of value…

A study involving 91 children (ages 3-5) divided into more able and less able sub-groups found mathematical word problems containing inconsistent information were more difficult than those with consistent information. Word problems containing inadequate and redundant information were more difficult to explain than those items with just enough…

The Education Commission of the States conducted interviews in six school districts in five different states (California, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, and Texas) to understand how districts can use data most effectively. These districts had used data to dramatically improve student achievement. Districts that make wise use of data have strong…

This paper details the challenges encountered by authors summarizing evidence from a primary study to describe a treatment's effectiveness using an effect size (ES) estimate. Dilemmas that are encountered, including how to calculate and interpret the pertinent standardized mean difference ES for results from studies of various research designs,…

A hotly debated topic in oropharyngeal dysphagia is the Clinical Swallowing Examination's (CSE) importance in clinical practice. That debate can profit from the application of evidence-based medicine's (EBM) principles and procedures. These can guide both appropriate data collection and interpretation as will be demonstrated in the present report.…

The article presents empirical evidence for the effectiveness and efficiency of a modified version of Trochim's (1989a, b) concept mapping approach to define the characteristics of an adaptive learning environment. The effectiveness and the efficiency of the method are attributed to the support that it provides in terms of elicitation, sharing,…

The data discussed in this paper are from the television game show "Friend or Foe", and can be used to examine whether age, gender, race, and the amount of prize money affect contestants' strategies. The data are suitable for a variety of statistical analyses, such as descriptive statistics, testing for differences in means or proportions, and…

Countries that begin implementing the Intel[R] Teach to the Future Essentials course after March of 2006 are required to collect data using the Intel[R] Teach Essentials End of Training Survey to help support program improvement. This End of Training evaluation toolkit provides guidelines on: (1) End of Training Survey administration; (2) The…