A quantifiable measure of teachers' intervention fidelity when delivering curriculum-based interventions allows researchers to interpret the effectiveness of the curricula under scrutiny. Fidelity measures, however, must accurately represent the critical components of an intervention to confirm that the intervention was delivered as intended and…

This article examines the topicality of Library and Information Science (LIS) dissertations written between 1930 and 2009 at schools with American Library Association (ALA)--accredited university programs in North America. Dissertation titles and abstracts were examined for the presence of library-related keywords drawn from the core curricula of…

Applied researchers, whether working with the framework of design-based research or intervention science, face a similar implementation challenge: practitioners who enact their programs typically do so in varied, context-specific ways. Although this variability is often seen as a problem for those who privilege fidelity and standardization, we…

Data-driven instructional decision making (or D-DIDM) is a "process by which educators examine [data] in order to identify student strengths and deficiencies" (Mertler, 2007). My view of the process of D-DIDM merges three critical educational practices: classroom-based (or site-based) action research, assessment of student learning, and…

This paper explores the ethical issues involved when researchers attempt to study participants who are personally close to them. It describes a case in which two researchers decided to study the experiences respectively of their son and grandson, both with ADD. They had barely initiated the study when ethical concerns led them to abandon the…