"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "Measuring What Matters": Report Evaluates States' Progress on Developing High-Quality Data Systems; (2)…

Conventional physics laboratory courses generally include an emphasis on increasing students' ability to carry out data analysis according to scientific practice, in particular, those aspects that relate to measurement uncertainty. This study evaluates the efficacy of the conventional approach by analyzing the understanding of measurement of…

The idea of using mathematical research in the classroom to collect real data has been spoken about within education for many years. The question is, why should teachers bother with real data from their students' worlds and how do they actually put it into practice in the classroom? When using the mathematical research strategy for collecting,…

This paper describes the first part of a new three-part study of STEM and engineering design research termed Design-Without-Make to be conducted by NC [North Carolina] State University in 2009-10 in an NC high school. The hybrid quantitative, qualitative case study is being developed with the purpose of capturing what new technological learning…

This CD-ROM disc contains data from the Survey of 1989-90 Recent College Graduates (RCG:91), a national survey conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The data available are the public release files in contrast to the restricted use files which are available only under license from NCES. In addition to survey data…

Before creating a linguistic map of Mexican dialects, it is necessary to determine the dialect regions of the country. An extensive questionnaire must be written and distributed to collect data from a representative sample of the population for an accurate picture of the language. (CK) (Text in Spanish.)

After a brief introduction and discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of questionnaires, this publication explains how to develop a questionnaire. Each of the five parts of a questionnaire (heading, procedural statements, items, comment space, and procedures for return) are discussed, with concrete examples. Guidelines for pre-test/tryout…

Three general approaches are available to help discipline the use of qualitative methods in educational research without sacrificing subjective understanding, according to this paper. The most private, least confirmable, yet richest approach is the intuitive, which depends on the researcher's thorough immersion in the field setting and…

The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of various attributes of the family in the structure and process of social influence during adolescence. (Author)

The purpose of this study was to determine what effects manifest anxiety has on the achievement of selected reading variables (also tasks or skills) of children who, according to their CMAS scores, vary in general drive or anxiety levels. (Author)

A method and apparatus for collecting and interpreting eye movement data is described that is both relatively inexpensive and portable. The study lists and describes hardware and software components of a data collection and data analysis system which provides precise information regarding the location, duration, and sequence of eye fixations while…

Cultural anthropology's methods of "emic" and "etic" analysis have potential applications in the theory, research, and practice of educational administration. In "emic" analysis the native informant is made the ultimate judge of the researcher's descriptions and analyses. In "etic" analysis, however, the…

A successful program to improve personnel attendance has reduced sick leave in 40 New Jersey school districts without increasing dismissals, grievances, or costs. The author describes the five steps in this Attendance Improvement Program (AIP), including (1) analysis of data on staff absences due to illness; (2) preparation of operating guidelines…

This paper discusses a role group sharing meeting held July 30-31, 1979 in Windsor, Connecticut, and attended by documentors and evaluators. Examined, in documentation form, are issues and learnings from the sharing meeting and an analysis of the design of the meeting, which was a pilot for other network role group meetings anticipated during the…

THE MANUAL PRESENTS THE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE DOCUMENTATION OF THE FUNCTIONS AND METHODOLOGY FOR PERFORMING A SPACE INVENTORY AND UTILIZATION STUDY AT INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION. THE INCLUSION OF SAMPLE FORMS AND NORMATIVE DATA FROM 101 INSTITUTIONS COLLECTED DURING 1951 THROUGH 1955 WOULD ENABLE AN INSTITUTION TO--(1) PERFORM A SELF STUDY,…