Examines the history of data on child health and suggests ways that data could be more useful in informing policy decisions. Summarizes findings of an assessment of the effectiveness of medical care for a variety of childhood conditions. Lists recommendations of a task force on dealing with decreases in publicly funded service programs for the…

Reviews advancements in psychology relating to nutrition education, including models for explaining food choice and strategies for treating obesity, comprehensive nutrition education programs, use in one-to-one counseling, and community nutrition behavior change. Describes the Heart Health Program, a social learning nutrition change curriculum.…

This report presents the analytic plan for a study of demonstration Title I projects. The study is to be one of distributional equity: what kinds of instructional services are received by what kinds of students. It is mandated by the United States Congress and will provide the basic analysis for possible modifications in the Elementary and…

Statewide assessment data available from two school years, two grade levels, and five sources (achievement tests; student, principal, and teacher questionnaires; and principal interviews), were aggregated to more closely investigate the relationship between student/school characteristics and student achievement. To organize this large number of…

An overview is presented of decision-oriented educational research, based on experiences in a large urban school district and on the literature. Alternative definitions of research use and evaluation use are discussed, with particular attention to the dissemination of research outcomes. (GDC)

In statistical terms, transfer rates require two components: a numerator that represents community college students who transfer and a denominator that approximates the pool of potential transfer students. The California Task Force adopted a set of criteria to judge the appropriateness of prospective pairs of numerators and denominators. Its form…

This paper examines the problem of experience level versus compensation level of college faculty via a study of 129 faculty members at Ashland University (Ohio). It presents the procedures that were used to identify faculty salary compression (in which new faculty may be paid more at equal or higher levels than existing senior faculty) at the…

Explores reasons for the tenuous relationship between educational research and educational practice. Suggests changes in research and policy to bring educational research directly to bear on educational problems. The major problem is that researchers are searching for variables that relate to improved outcomes, whereas educational innovators are…

This study of student teachers' beliefs was conducted to track changes in their beliefs about teaching and examine the role of academic and practical experiences in modifying these beliefs. The primary focus of this paper is the evolution of methodology, with extracts from three case studies presented to illustrate the direction the research is…

Challenges some assumptions and methods used in nutrition education practice and research, offers alternative viewpoints for studying and intervening in certain nutrition behaviors, and discusses programmatic and methodological issues which have limited the application of existing theories and data in research and practice of nutrition education.…

The governments of the United States, Japan, West Germany, France, and the United Kingdom each have large research and development efforts involving government agencies, universities and industry. This document provides a comparative overview of policies and programs which contribute to the development of technologies in the general area of…

This document explores the field of social network theory (with particular emphasis given to Australian research literature) by identifying and evaluating the major explanatory models in use--which have origins in such diverse disciplines as anthropology, sociology, social psychology, and social psychiatry--and by summarizing important findings;…

Four evaluation methods for determining educational policy are objectivism; subjectivism; emotive-imperative; and instrumentalism. For the objectivist, the rationale for undertaking an evaluation is based on empirical verification or non-verification of claims of existing policies or activities. Secondly, the objectivist is interested in…

Proposes a broad analytical framework in the study of immigrant naturalization that incorporates an immigrant's individual characteristics with the larger social contexts in the country of origin and the country of destination to explain the likelihood of citizenship acquisition. Results testing of this framework show that such considerations are…

This report responds to a congressional request for information on the following selected issues involving intercollegiate athletics: (1) revenue and expenses of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and its member schools' athletic departments; (2) a data profile on the gender and race/ethnicity of staff members in five selected…