Many black women in the United States experience unique stressors that often impede their ability to interact and cope effectively in their psychosocial environment. The study in this article examined factors affecting the ability of black women to cope with everyday stressors and to master situations that induce psychological distress. Using an…

Background: Action research is a meaningful form of research because it is conducted by the teacher in his or her own classroom. Action research requires a teacher to design a study in an area of interest and conduct it in their own classroom. Action research is a requirement for some masters of education programs in the United States. Purpose: To…

The Model Teacher Induction Project will: (1) identify needs of beginning teachers; (2) develop and implement a model teacher induction program designed to meet those needs; (3) assess the effects of the model program on new teachers in a school setting; (4) inform the teacher education community about the program; (5) study the subsequent…

Presented as part of a symposium on evaluation on juvenile diversion programs, this brief paper describes several specific research procedures which have been utilized to help decide which type of diversion approach is best for specific types of clients. Procedures discussed are the regression discontinuity design, the tie-breaker design, and the…

Shows how evaluation design and federal involvement in Youth Employment Demonstration Projects unintentionally cause a negative appraisal. Indicates the problem stems from interaction of the contract research corporation, the educational research establishment, and the federal bureaucracy, rather than a specific methodology or bureaucratic…

Criterion and construct validation analyses support the use of both retrospective questions in lieu of a pretest and a methodological innovation to compensate for the absence of a control group in a program evaluation that calls for an unavailable experimental design. The findings obtained with this method present evidence that study abroad…

The Curriculum Assessment and Development Project in the Virginia Beach (Virginia) Public Schools is summarized. It was a comprehensive study involving students, parents, teachers, and administrators in considering two key curricular questions: "What kind of person do we want to produce?" and "What knowledge is of most worth?"…

The one group posttest only evaluation model has been identified as a relatively inexpensive and useful model that can identify program components that are not being successful. The use of the model is discussed and illustrated through a hypothetical evaluation of a compensatory (Chapter 1) program. The one group posttest only evaluation model…

Strength and integrity issues are central to planning and interpreting evaluation studies. In the absence of actual data from previous studies, estimates of strength and integrity can often be derived in other ways. These issues of strength and integrity are described in the context of resource allocation in evaluation research. (Author/BS)

Eighty-three studies from 1982 to 2001 with formal training interventions were integrated via meta-analytic techniques to determine the effectiveness of interventions in their enhancement of performance, knowledge, and expertise at the individual, team or group, or organizational level. The studies were separated by research design, with the…

Before schools and districts invest their scarce resources in the products that educational researchers have developed, teachers, administrators, and community members need to become informed consumers of educational research. This article strives to bridge the gap between researchers and practitioners by exploring how to become an informed…

Although there has been a rapid increase in funding and attention to after-school programs, there is little understanding of how after-school programs impact children's developmental trajectories. The heterogeneity of American children makes it very unlikely that all children need after-school programming or that there is but one brand of…

This paper focuses on transition programs for youth to postsecondary education, broadly considered. It addresses the following questions: (1) What models or programs of transition exist? (2) On what basis can we say one transition program is more effective than another? In other words, how is successful transition defined? (3) How are…

Strengthening Pre-collegiate Education in Community Colleges (SPECC) was organized by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in partnership with The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to increase student learning in developmental--or basic skills--classes. However, their concern was not just the success of students in classes…

A new report published by the Manhattan Institute for Education Policy, "The Effect of Special Education Vouchers on Public School Achievement: Evidence from Florida's McKay Scholarship Program," attempts to examine the complex issue of how competition introduced through school vouchers affects student outcomes in public schools. The…