Background: There is a growing emphasis of evidence-based program requirements being integrated into social welfare policies for youth care services in the U.S. This trend highlights the need for increased practitioner understanding and involvement in the research process to develop and implement evidence-based programs for youth with emotional…

This paper is an exercise in reflection on my role as a researcher-teacher, while designing and implementing a qualitative study in a secondary school in Singapore. The first study of its kind locally, I designed and taught a bidialectal programme with Singlish as a resource to facilitate the teaching of Standard English. The 8-week programme was…

Conventional wisdom says that the way to win more awards is to get researchers writing more proposals. Yet many incentives designed to stimulate proposal development can be hard on the bottom line, especially those that pay researchers for their time or to attend grant-writing workshops presented by outside consulting firms. This paper presents…

Purpose: The expansion of alternative education, globally, has coincided with a shift towards greater accountability for ensuring educational access and opportunity, high academic standards and increased graduation rates. While studies suggest the pervasive influence of accountability may be redefining how school leaders provide meaningful…

After months of waiting, the grant reviews came back: "excellent," "excellent," and "fair." What?! How can this be? Why is the third review so out of line with the first two? On more than one occasion a principal investigator (PI) has been frustrated not only by a negative funding decision but more so by the accompanying reviewer evaluation forms…

This article describes the core features of outcome research and then explores issues confronting researchers who engage in outcome studies. Using an intervention research perspective, descriptive and explanatory methods are distinguished. Emphasis is placed on the counterfactual causal perspective, designing programs that fit culture and context,…

The article suggests ways to make use of regression discontinuity to plan, implement, and evaluate gifted programs. It outlines how research data can illuminate rather than obscure program decisions. Making efficient use of multiple criteria identification data is discussed along with making program effectiveness decisions without using a control…

Outlines a 10-step process for designing performance improvement systems which is intended to reduce time spent on the project, to assure client approval, and to assure management support. Client participation with the consultant throughout the process is stressed as the key to success. (LRW)

In response to increasing costs and growing reliance on external funding for college faculty research, a plan for promoting faculty success in gaining financial support for research is proposed. The plan is based on information in the literature concerning prerequisites for success in getting external support. (Author/MSE)

Described back-end synthesis as the creation and integration of the secondary intervention required for efficient and cost-effective implementation of performance improvement programs. Involving analysis, design, evaluation, revision, and implementation, this process is related to front-end analysis, and a sample application in a performance…

The effects of various gifted programs on the self-concepts and depressive symptoms of 82 gifted and talented fifth- and sixth-grade students were evaluated. Sixth-grade gifted groups (pull-out and self-contained) scored higher on self-concept than did nongifted groups. No effects on depressive symptoms were found. (DB)

Describes how two methodologies for analyzing and improving performance--performance engineering and organization mapping--were used in a case study involving the purchasing department of an electric utility. Highlights include the establishment of a model of the desired results, measuring existing performance, and the designing of an improvement…

Challenges faced by institutions of higher education when performing institutional research on different continents are examined. The discussion is based on the experiences of two universities with undergraduate programs in foreign countries. Three levels of organizational activity (strategic, managerial, operational) and several information…

Inherent in the philosophy behind community outreach partnership center (COPC) programs and university-community collaboration is flexibility in instituting models, strategies, and solutions for those partnerships. However, evaluating collaborative efforts is difficult because each project differs according to needs, resources, and goals. One…

Examines the impact of program design on the development of research-based practice models. The concept of program design is reduced to elements that can be examined for their reliability, validity, relevance, and internal consistency. (Author/RWB)