In order to "cut through the jargon of the multifaceted field of evaluative research", 21 evaluation models representing a range of possibilities were identified (via literature review) and compared in terms of purpose and five basic phases applicable to rural development. Evaluation was defined as "the systematic examination of a…

Research on the relation between teacher behavior and pupil change has been an active field of inquiry for a number of years but the degree of agreement of results across various studies is not high. This paper is an examination of four studies seeking parallel bits of results which may be of use to classroom teachers. Research methodologies were…

This study is an update of earlier work conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), on social selection in education. The former study, published in 1970, covers 19 of the 25 OECD countries and has no data for Australia, Canada, Finland, Iceland, New Zealand, or Turkey. The present paper includes later data for…

The question, "How many people are enrolled in public school adult education?" is presented. The current survey on Adult Education in the Public Education System is one of several surveys. Adult education is defined here as "organized instruction to meet the unique needs of persons beyond compulsory school age who have interrupted or completed…

The acquisition of Literacy Project's basic goal is to determine the processes by which children learn to read, and to identify reasons many fail to learn. One part of the process is the formation of correspondences between letter patterns and the sounds for which they stand. To determine the extent of such correspondences, tests of pronunciation…

A study was conducted to ascertain which dimensions of children's classroom behavior are seen to be important by teachers and how accurate teachers' perceptions are of children's behavior in terms of such dimensions. Teachers in six suburban fourth-grade classrooms rated classroom behavior of each of their students (105 boys and 78 girls) using…

Compares the summary writing strategies used by professional writers, remedial college English students, and outstanding high school students. Concludes that the subjects fell into two groups--amateur and professional, with evident differences in reading processes, note taking, abstracting, monitoring, analyzing, and writing processes. (FL)

This paper addresses two audiences--those who design education trend studies that simultaneously have longitudinal and intercohort implications, and the secondary analysts who use such trend data. Four study series conducted for the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) provide material for the paper: the…

A discussion of in-depth interviewing as a method for research on language teaching and learning situates the technique within the continuum of research methodology and differentiates it from quantitative research methods. The strengths and weaknesses of in-depth interviewing are examined, methods of sampling are discussed, and advice on the…

The full data set on which the "U.S. News and World Report" rankings of doctoral programs were based is presented and discussed. Rankings are for economics, English, history, political science, psychology, and sociology programs. Discussion addresses the methodology used and makes comparisons with National Academy of Sciences 1982…

Ten higher education professionals and one college senior comment on the "U.S. News and World Report" rankings of doctoral programs in six liberal arts disciplines. The authors' response to one set of comments and the comments of an executive editor from the magazine are also included. (MSE)

Mail survey, telephone survey, and keeping time were compared as methods of assessing teaching time for 74 sixth grade teachers teaching language in the Netherlands. Results suggest that each of the three methods can be used to assess the mean total score, but none can assess individual scores. (SLD)

Identifies important criteria for assessing the quality of educational research and applies these 20 identified criteria to 2 recent international comparative studies in education, the Second International Science Study and the first International Assessment of Educational Progress. The major types of criteria are utility, propriety, and accuracy.…

Raises questions concerning the research methodology and related issues arising from Lonigan and Whitehurst's study: (1) degree of parent compliance in implementing the intervention; (2) effect of the parents' education level; (3) potential effects of other manipulations of the home environment to increase access to literacy materials; and (4)…

An increasing amount of research attention is being directed toward the educational experiences of students with profound and multiple disabilities. One technique that has allowed a better understanding of alertness and involvement in members of this population is behavior state assessment. In this study, eight matched pairs of school-aged…