The "Value-Added School Review (VSR)" is an analytical model designed to assist schools in identifying and addressing opportunities for school improvement. The model works best when it is focused purposefully on students and the student learning outcomes as defined in the "Guide to Education". It complements the processes…

This is one the fourth in a series of reports that examine key issues related to family and community connections with schools. These research syntheses are intended to help local school, community, and family leaders obtain useful information derived from rigorous research. In addition to presenting findings from recent research, the synthesis…

Research on special needs education is often very complex and puts specific demands on the methodology used. Data-triangulation, at the very least, is required. In most of our recent research projects on the development of special needs education in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium), we have made use of qualitative case studies to…

In 2000, PBS contracted with Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR) to conduct a five-year evaluation of "Ready To Learn" outreach. The evaluation includes an impact study of the effects of "Ready To Learn" workshops on participating parents and early childhood educators, as well as on the preschool children in their care. Conducted in 20 "Ready…

This handbook has been prepared to address one specific problem: How can the techniques of program evaluation be effectively applied to produce useful information about the operations and impact of moral education programs in secondary schools? The handbook is divided into five chapters. The introductory chapter describes the background and…

Conference papers and discussions presented in this volume reflect recent research results that suggest the human infant is not a tabula rasa but an organism endowed at birth with an array of capabilities. Contents focus on several issues, including the possibility that infants have a rich affective life from their earliest days and that even…

This pamphlet describes ways in which parents and others interested in education can effectively evaluate the usefulness of educational research. Almost everything that happens in the schools is related to educational research. Parents and concerned others should appreciate its benefits, but should be aware that: not all research is done well or…

Special education is now an established part of public education in the United States--by law and by custom. However, it is still widely misunderstood and continues to be dogged by controversies related to such things as categorization, grouping, assessment, placement, funding, instruction, and a variety of legal issues. The purpose of this…