Describes a two-day forensic science course that is offered to eighth grade students enrolled in Science, Mathematics, and Technology Magnet Schools. Provides sample student activity sheets for the course. (Author/RT)

A new approach to the quantification and interpretation of change when only repeated cross-sectional data are available--the Trajectory Analysis of Matched Percentiles--is presented. A recent attempt to interpret the findings on reading achievement of the National Assessment of Educational Progress is critically analyzed. (SLD)

Asserts that educational policymakers must measure student achievement and school system performance accurately to help provide skills demanded by society. Contends that many international surveys either fail to provide adequate and precise answers to the intended research questions or provide inaccurate and faulty results. (CFR)

Researchers responsible for"Alcohol Abuse in Urban Indian Adolescents and Women: A Longitudinal Study for Assessment and Risk Evaluation" respond to critiques of the research project. Clarifies project goals, discusses issues related to longitudinal research, and addresses concerns related to research utilization and data publication.…

In this chapter, the author attempts to help the reader see beyond the current state of affairs in terms of the relationship between classroom assessment and accountability and to consider some wider perspectives and possibilities. Hopefully, this will also help the reader step into the spirit of the discussion that is inherent in the chapters…

The individual works of Eric Hanushek and the collaborative efforts of Hedges, Laine, and Greenwald in the 1980s and 1990s focused a substantial amount of attention on the relationship between education budget allocations and school performance. Using their opposing hypotheses as a theoretical framework, this study focuses on K-12 education in…

The current study provides empirical data associated with successful program completion by examining the differing characteristics between clients who graduated from a community-based reintegration program operating in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and those who left prior to graduation. Substance dependence risk, level of education, employment or…

A central dilemma of portfolio assessment is that as the richness of the data available to readers increases, so do the challenges involved in ensuring acceptable reliability among readers. Drawing on empirical and theoretical work in discourse analysis, ethnomethodology, and other fields, we argue that this dilemma results, in part, from the fact…

In a recently published research article in this journal, Avramidis & Skidmore (2004) argued that it is time we placed issues of disability provision more in the context of provision for the generic student. They presented a study based on the Learning for All Questionnaire (LfAQ), which investigated certain implied issues. Findings indicated…

An administrator's daily life is full of decisions that often involve an "on the spot" solution. This paper discusses some of the principles involved in drawing inferences in research and decision making, and describes how a knowledge of decision-making errors can help administrators. The paper also describes a case study that…

Higher education relies on student ratings to evaluate faculty teaching, partly because the alternatives (expert peer appraisals or objective performance criteria) are costly or unavailable. Because student ratings are crucial not only to improving instruction, but also in making or breaking faculty careers, it is important to assure that they…

This booklet provides key facts about U.S. immigration and presents references to books and data sources on immigration, critical thinking exercises, and research project ideas. The topic of immigration, which continues to have such impact on the United States, should be a high priority in schools. The social and cultural aspects of the trials and…

This study analyzes the ways in which school boards assess and utilize evaluation data and their attitudes toward testing. Interviews with 27 school board members from 10 districts indicate that board members tend to rely on informal working knowledge over formal information, and on district administrators' judgments. Findings suggest that simple…

This study analyses infant health data from the 332 poorest rural U.S. counties for the period 1975-1985. The study updates and expands a report released in 1986. The data show that, until 1980, rates of infant mortality and low birthweights (LBW) improved significantly, especially in rural areas. The trend toward better prenatal care in rural…

A method for drawing inferences from complex samples is based on Rubin's approach to missing data in survey research. Standard procedures for drawing such inferences do not apply when the variables of interest are not observed directly, but must be inferred from secondary random variables which depend on the variables of interest stochastically.…