This response to an article evaluating Indiana's early intervention service delivery (EC 628 669) based on the state's comprehensive data system evaluates the amount of services provided, type of services, the service system, and the service delivery model. Analysis indicates continuing gaps between federal law requirements and implementation in…

Men who have sex with men (MSM) are a priority population for HIV care and prevention programs. This report describes HIV and other sexually transmitted disease (STD) trends among MSM in metropolitan Atlanta by analyzing nine databases. We describe the use of the male-to-female (M:F) ratio, a surrogate marker for MSM in databases without…

Recent developments in the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) have produced a national pupil database (NPD) that contains information about the attainments of individual pupils. Every child in the country has been allocated a unique pupil number (UPN), which means that the academic progress of individuals can be tracked over time. It is…

Bioinformatics is one of the fastest growing scientific areas over the last decade. It focuses on the use of informatics tools for the organization and analysis of biological data. An example of their importance is the availability nowadays of dozens of software programs for genomic and proteomic studies. Thus, there is a growing field (private…

The concept of a hierarchy of evidence is useful in rapid electronic searching to answer questions arising during the natural course of clinical practice. The answerable question often begins "What is the evidence that ..." and, when focused on a treatment, usually includes a population, an intervention, a comparison group, and an outcome, often…

During the last decade, standards, assessments, and accountability have emerged as three prongs of a national education reform movement that has asked district and school administrators to think very differently about educational decision making and the use of data. However, research about data-driven decision making is limited, especially…

One ongoing dilemma with the accommodation of extended test time is how much time to provide. Due to a dearth of research to help disability service providers with this decision, a review of the literature on extended test time for postsecondary students with learning disabilities (LD) was conducted to (a) inform service providers about the…

This study reports on the student experience of learning through writing in an undergraduate science subject. During their writing experience, 52 first year university science students used a writing database, bulletin board and word-processor. Using quantitative questionnaires developed from student learning research, this study investigates the…

A tool for teaching bioinformatics concepts to information systems majors is described. Biological data are available from numerous sources and a good knowledge of biology is needed to understand much of these data. As the subject of bioinformatics gains popularity among computer and information science course offerings, it will become essential…

Purpose: To examine the validity of using scores from a clinical evaluation form as an assessment of clinical competence. Method: Investigators collected a longitudinal clinical skills assessment database that included scores reflecting performance on standardized patient interactions, case-based learning performance, scores on multiple-choice…

This article summarizes the results of a 2-part study using both state databases and teacher surveys to examine teacher retention and mobility in Washington's teacher workforce. The first part of the research examined individual teacher records during a 5-year period. Statewide analyses were conducted, and 20 districts were selected for in-depth…

This paper reports on a study conducted on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2005 database. The purpose of the study was to examine predictors of student achievement using middle school mathematics teacher professional development items as criterion variables, such as the number of mathematics courses taken, the number of…

The "2004/06 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS:04/06)" is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education to respond to the need for a national, comprehensive database concerning issues students may face in enrollment, persistence, progress, and attainment in postsecondary education and in consequent early rates of…

LABLIB, a recently-developed Finnish databank for cataloging video, audio, and computer materials for second language instruction, is described. The objective was a computer-based program that would require little or no specialized computer knowledge of the user. The user has 14 search variables (bibliographic, content, format) by which to search…

The ERIC Clearinghouse on Assessment and Evaluation (ERIC/AE), the Educational Testing Service (ETS), the Buros Institute, and Pro-Ed (publishing) have collaborated to produce the most comprehensive test locator services available on the Internet. The Test Locator service is located in a subdirectory of the ERIC/AE gopher site. It contains several…