This guide for district and school leaders shows how to recognize opportunities to embed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) into planned policies or programs. Opportunistic RCTs can generate strong evidence for informing education decisions--with minimal added cost and disruption. The guide also outlines the key steps to conduct RCTs and responds…

The purpose of the research paper was to investigate the effect of eclectic learning approach on the academic achievement and retention of students in English at elementary level. A sample of forty students of 8th grade randomly selected from Government Boys High School Khurram District Karak was used. It was an experimental study and that's why…

Teacher and principal surveys are among the most common data collection techniques employed in education research. Yet there is remarkably little research on survey methods in education, or about the most cost-effective way to raise response rates among teachers and principals. In an effort to explore various methods for increasing survey response…

The concept of "implementation fidelity" is broadly used to capture the extent to which an intervention is executed as intended by the designers of the intervention (Century, Rudnick, & Freeman, 2010; Huntley, 2005, McNaught, Tarr, & Sears, 2010, Munter, 2010). Though implementation fidelity instruments are often used to assess…

This three-volume report describes the "SAM (School Administration Manager) process," an approach that about 700 schools around the nation are using to direct more of principals' time and effort to improve teaching and learning in classrooms. Research has shown that a principal's instructional leadership is second only to teaching among…

This NCEE Technical Methods report examines how to address the problem of missing data in the analysis of data in Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) of educational interventions, with a particular focus on the common educational situation in which groups of students such as entire classrooms or schools are randomized. Missing outcome data are a…

Various methods have been suggested for the analysis of data collected in research settings where random assignment of subjects to groups has not occurred. For the purposes of this paper the set of allowable nonrandomized designs is made up of those research designs where data are collected for one or more groups of subjects at two or more time…

Reviews research into class size effects from a methodological viewpoint, concentrating on various strengths and weaknesses of randomized controlled trials (RCT) and observational studies. Discusses population definitions, causation, and generally sets out criteria for valid inferences from such studies. Illustrates with new findings from data in…

The failure of educational research to fully allow for limitations in methodology when drawing conclusions is faulted. In addition to this, a failure on the part of the media--educational and other--to fully publicize these limitations is also criticized. Methodological shortcomings of the 1977-78 American Institutes of Research (AIR) study of…

The experience of a research group in studying Neighborhood Youth Corps (NYC) programs provides the framework for a discussion of the methodological difficulties of conducting research on disadvantaged groups. However, the report does not deal with the programs and operations of NYC itself. Four problem areas are described: (1) criterion, program,…

This report summarizes the National Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) Study, which examined the impact of Title IIA of JTPA on participants' employment, earnings, and welfare receipt. Between 1987 and 1989, more than 20,000 adults and out-of-school youths who applied for JTPA services in 16 areas across the country were randomly assigned to a…

CONTRARY TO THE OPINION OF MANY PEOPLE, PROJECT HEADSTART (HS) IS NOT A STABLE AND UNIFORM PROGRAM WHICH DEALS WITH AN EASILY DEFINABLE POPULATION. THERE ARE, THEREFORE, SEVERAL PROBLEMS WHICH EXIST IN CONNECTION WITH EVALUATIVE RESEARCH CONCERNED WITH HS. IN ORDER TO PROVIDE GUIDANCE IN PROGRAM PLANNING, THIS RESEARCH SEEKS TO DESCRIBE POTENTIAL…

Teachers have incorporated active-learning techniques into the sociology classroom for many years, but the types of applications and evaluations are quite varied. In this paper, the authors quantitatively test a particular form of active learning that they call "living-data exercises," which instructors can use to introduce sociological research…

THIS REVIEW OF THE PROBLEMS IN DESIGN AND INTERPRETATION OF RESEARCH ON HUMAN RELATIONS TRAINING, PARTICULARLY THAT USING T GROUPS AND SENSITIVITY TRAINING, REFERS TO STUDIES IN THE FIELD. PROBLEMS CONSIDERED ARE--THE PROBLEM OF CONTROLS (VOLUNTEER PARTICIPANTS, PREDICTION OF OUTCOMES), TEMPORAL CHANGE IN TRAINING OUTCOMES (RELATIONSHIP OF CHANGE…