The essay examines the variety of research methods and measures used in the first-year experience and students-in-transition field over the past 25 years. Interrogating the extant research, Kinzie explores whether the methods and analytic processes most commonly employed are adequate to advance our understanding of complex issues in the field. The…

Diverse explanations have been offered for the complex problems facing inner-city families. This paper considers how policies designed to solve urban problems can benefit from research conducted to examine elements from three prominent arguments: (1) family behavior contributes to urban problems; (2) structural changes in the U.S. economy have…

Proposes that there be more direct carryover of what has been learned about measurement in research to measurement in teaching (specifically, grading). Major sources of error in the measurement process are identified, and seven tested social science research strategies are presented. Suggests that to the extent measurement is varied and repeated,…

Progress in civil rights for black Americans does not appear to have been matched, at least in recent years, by equal progress in social harmony. It is argued that a considerable part of present racial difficulties are the result of commonly expressed understandings that are deeply flawed and that these flaws can be corrected only if social…

This article outlines a data collection model designed by Riffel and associates. This model provides information which may assist district and school level personnel in facilitating the desegregation process. (Author/AM)

Five research studies dealing with spelling achievement in New Zealand schools have been conducted; these include dictated-word spelling tests, written language studies, and achievement data collections of 20,000 students. Several conclusions emerge from an examination of this research: spelling achievement studies should be based on samples of…

Self-efficacy theory and research contribute to self-concept theory primarily by supporting the enhancement model of belief change. This article describes current problems with self-concept theory, describes self-efficacy research, and suggests that self-efficacy theory and methodology present findings that strengthen the association between…

In discussing the past, present, and future of research in teacher effectiveness, this article notes that researcher's conceptions of teacher effectiveness has determined the nature of the research and the usefulness of the findings; process-product research can produce reliable information; the tools needed to build a knowledge base for effective…

Reviews Tennessee's Project Student/Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) and puts the results in the context of other nonexperimental evidence about class size. Nonexperimental evidence does not support any achievement gains attributable to class-size reduction, and empirical evidence from STAR has design and implementation flaws that cast doubt on…

Examines implications of IEA international educational research for educational policies in three areas: overall quality of the national educational system, including success in achieving social and economic objectives; structure of the formal system and its influence on student achievement; and influence of school resources and instructional…

A project conducted in Tennessee from 1984 through 1989, Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (Project STAR), serves as a context for a discussion of educational research. The decisions required in major research projects and the problems in carrying out research are seldom discussed in conferences that present research results as completed efforts.…

Statewide assessment data available from two school years, two grade levels, and five sources (achievement tests; student, principal, and teacher questionnaires; and principal interviews), were aggregated to more closely investigate the relationship between student/school characteristics and student achievement. To organize this large number of…

The redesign of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has resulted in improved usefulness of the data set to conduct policy relevant research on Hispanic student achievement. Improvements include changing the procedure for ethnic identification to self-reporting, modifying sample selection, and planning for the conduct of special…

The content of this book is embedded in two historical frameworks. The first is the history of American education in which the basic underlying premise is that education is a means of achieving equality in our society. The other is the development of educational research in the United States which was founded on a deep conviction that one could…

This is the fifth in a series of issue briefs to be written for The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement during 2006. In this brief, author Craig Jerald highlights research collected in the July 2005 special issue of the "Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk" to argue for collecting and using data to…