The first years of life lay the foundations for a child's future development and learning. Many countries have increased their financial support for provision of early childhood education and care (ECEC) over the past years. More recently, the focus of debate has been shifting from expanding access to affordable ECEC to enhancing its quality. A…

The book examines the shift needed to our systems and society to enable lifelong, experiential, interconnected learning journeys. The book outlines the vision for a learning ecosystem that spans technology, learning science, policy, and organizational factors. "Modernizing Learning" is the outcome of a multi-year study recently completed…

This book presents a novel approach to discussing how to research language teacher cognition and practice. An introductory chapter by the editors and an overview of the research field by Simon Borg precede eight case studies written by new researchers, each of which focuses on one approach to collecting data. These approaches range from…

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professionals generate a stream of scientific discoveries and technological innovations that fuel job creation and national economic growth. Ensuring a robust supply of these professionals is critical for sustaining growth and creating jobs growth at a time of intense global competition.…

This substantially revised text provides a comprehensive, highly accessible, and student friendly introduction to the principles, concepts, and methods currently used in educational research. This text provides a balanced combination of quantitative and qualitative methods and enables students to master skills in reading, understanding,…

This is the latest edition of the "State of the States in Developmental Disabilities" study--a thorough and the only one of its kind investigation on public spending, revenues, and programmatic trends of intellectual and developmental programs and services within the United States since 1977. Directed by leading researcher, Dr. David…

"Social Network Theory and Educational Change" offers a provocative and fascinating exploration of how social networks in schools can impede or facilitate the work of education reform. Drawing on the work of leading scholars, the book comprises a series of studies examining networks among teachers and school leaders, contrasting formal…

The field manual for a series of coordinated studies of the spontaneous acquisition of a second language by adult immigrant workers provides a theoretical and practical framework for the entire project and a source of information about it for other researchers. Chapters 1 and 2 describe the project's objectives and organization. Chapter 3 reviews…

Three major methods of survey research, face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews, and mail questionnaires, are compared with respect to the quality of the data. The literature on experimental comparisons of these methods is reviewed, and the effects of the mode of data collection on aspects of data quality are examined. The effects of the…

The development of a national database describing the real undergraduate curriculum, the courses that college and university students actually take, is reported. Based on analyses of student transcripts from 30 public and private institutions of varying sizes, this report provides a rationale for the database; analyzes student choices across the…

Users' expectations of libraries are changing as they find and obtain more information directly from the Web. To better understand how usage patterns are changing, the Digital Library Federation (DLF) and Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR)commissioned Outsell, Inc., to conduct a large-scale study of undergraduates, graduate…

Presented is a compendium of quantitative information portraying science education in the United States. The data, gathered from a wide variety of sources, are assembled into six chapters including resources, participation, attitudes, goals and needs, test data, degree data, and employment in science and engineering. Each entry consists of a chart…

This report describes the methods and procedures used for the 1994 third followup of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 eighth graders (NELS:88/94). NELS:88/94 collected information on postsecondary education participation, employment, earnings, family formation, and other activities and experiences relevant to individuals as they…

Already a standard technique in anthropology, the life history method is widely used in the development of oral and local history, and within educational and social science research the method is growing in popularity. This is in large part due to the growing respectability of qualitative research in general. Part I of this paper explains the life…

Organizational development is explored through this discussion of a series of projects initiated by researchers at the University of Oregon to provide consultation and training to a school district in the Northwest. The primary focus was the improvement of problem-solving skills in the district and the development of a heightened capacity for…