Despite expansive improvements in both treatments and research, the majority of persons with autism use non-empirically supported interventions. One way to decrease the research-to-practice gap involves increasing the direct applicability of research findings to clinical settings. Effectiveness research achieves this goal by identifying treatments…

This study examines what specific data college faculty and administrators use in their jobs and the extent to which they use data analysis to design and improve the impact of programs and services. The study is based on a survey on the use of student data by faculty and administrators at 41 community colleges participating in Achieving the Dream:…

How can educational research have more impact? What processes of knowledge exchange are most effective for increasing the uses of research results? How can research-produced knowledge be better "mobilized" among users such as practicing educators, policy makers, and the public communities? These sorts of questions are commanding urgent…

Most assessment arguments are about measurement. When is it better to use direct versus indirect measures of student learning? Is one standardized test of critical thinking better than another? Is applying rubrics to student work better than using standardized tests? How valid are self-reported measures of learning? Although these arguments are…

To ensure the best possible outcomes for young children with and without disabilities, early childhood educators must enter the classroom ready to conduct all types of early childhood assessment--including determining if children need additional services, planning and monitoring instruction, and determining program effectiveness. They'll get the…

Although there is increasing interest in evidence-based decision making in postsecondary education, there have been few large-scale empirical studies on the subject, and none of the research to date has examined in depth what specific data college faculty and administrators use in their jobs and the extent to which they use data analysis to design…

This chapter describes several examples of institutional use of state- and college-level tracking data to benchmark performance, improve student success, and enhance program effectiveness.

Over the past few years Research Data Services (RDS), part of the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), has led numerous large-scale, longitudinal projects. Feedback to schools has been provided for all of these projects, and has been in the form of sets of tables and charts and electronic files illustrating pupil performance and…

BASIC PREMISE OF THIS REPORT IS THAT INSTRUCTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS MUST BE JUDGED FOR EACH PROGRAM ACCORDING TO ITS DEMONSTRATED MERITS. GENERAL AND SPECIFIC RECOMMENDATIONS ARE LISTED FOR POTENTIAL PROGRAM USERS AND PUBLISHERS. SUPPLEMENTS CONTAIN INFORMATION ON PROGRAM MANUALS AND TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION. THIS REPORT WAS PREPARED BY THE JOINT…

Investigating University-School Partnerships: A Volume in Professional Development School Research, the fourth book in the PDS Research Series developed by the same editors, includes a collection of organized papers that represent the best and latest examples of practitioner thinking, research, and program design and evaluation in the field at the…

This report is designed to help policymakers, parents, reporters, and foundation officials better understand what has been learned about voucher programs and why some key questions remain unsettled. It is based on an analysis of voucher programs in Milwaukee, Cleveland, and Florida State. Four basic questions are addressed: (1) What do we know…

This chapter describes the National Student Clearinghouse and discusses opportunities and challenges for tracking community college students. It also presents a system perspective on using clearinghouse data to promote more comprehensive student and graduate tracking. (Contains 2 tables.)

This chapter examines lessons learned by states that are using student unit record (SUR) data to improve outcomes for community college students and recommends steps states can take to strengthen their use of SUR databases to benefit students and communities. (Contains 1 exhibit.)

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 places a strong emphasis on the use of student achievement test scores to measure school performance, and, throughout the United States, school and district education reform efforts are increasingly focusing on the use of student achievement data to make decisions about curriculum and instruction. To encourage…

A review of the literature reveals that the knowledge professors of educational administration disseminate is not used in administrator preparation programs. This holds true both in the design of programs and in the use of specific methodologies in the management of the programs. The implementation of a range of management technologies, preferably…