Science is being criticized within scientific domains and society. To address this, we suggest that researchers in special education, broadly, and those working in the behavioral disorders field, specifically, consider three critical facets of research: (a) importance of rigor, (b) value of replication, and (c) transparency of reproducibility in…

One factor that may facilitate a successful reunification of children in foster care with their parents--or failing that, provide an alternate route to permanency through adoption or guardianship--is children's connections with extended family. However, because foster care frequently disrupts social connections, practitioners may need to take…

This qualitative study utilized a meta-ethnographic approach to synthesize findings of five dissertations that focused on distance learning support services. The history of ethnographical studies stemmed from an anthropological background. Researchers have applied ethnographical approaches to examine and document various phenomena. This…

It is generally recognized that the home background of students is important for their achievement and progress through school, but obtaining accurate information is becoming increasingly difficult. School-level indicators of socioeconomic status, although coarse, may consist of more than the sum of family backgrounds of students attending the…

This paper attempts to show how the effective use of both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies can provide a more complete picture when conducting research and can serve as a means of validation. The context is research on special education reform in South Carolina. The first phase of the research project focused on constructing…

In the marketing research class taught at University of South Carolina, Upstate School of Business and Economics, pedagogical emphasis is placed on the marketing research process as it relates to the policies and functions of the business enterprise. Historically, the marketing research project has been used in this undergraduate class to convey…

The ability to develop and implement a school vision is now viewed as a core competency for school principals. Since being highlighted as an ISLLC performance standard, it has received increased attention in the educational leadership literature and principal preparation programs. This article summarizes recent findings regarding the perceptions…

Data from 6,472 South Carolina residents aged over 55 years support the reliability of S. Katz's Activities of Daily Living scale when data are collected by self-report telephone interview. Results indicate that telephone interview methods are a fast, inexpensive, and safe way to collect data for research and policy formation. (SLD)

Student achievement data from 92 school districts in South Carolina were analyzed to determine which variables were most likely to affect educational quality. Fourth and seventh grade samples were examined to determine the effects on achievement when the shared variation between achievement and the context variables was removed. The data included…

The purpose of this study is to identify and document processes that are associated with effective desegregation in six school districts enumerated below; to examine the interrelationships of these processes; and to identify commonalities among the six districts which could provide guidelines for models of effective school desegregation. The major…

These proceedings contain 48 presentations and 15 poster abstracts. Papers include "Computer Tasks Required in Selected Undergraduate Agriculture Courses" (Johnson, Ferguson, Vokinnns, Lester); "College of Agriculture Faculty Perceptions of Electronic Technologies in Teaching" (Dooley, Murphy); "Steering Through Turbulent…