This article emerges from a recent review of evidence, conducted by the authors and others, on the lifelong barriers to widening participation in higher education in England. This has led us to a consideration of the quality and relevance of the research activity in this large field of endeavour, and to the creation of a typology of the kinds of…

In the fall of 1995 the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) held a conference to stimulate dialogue about future developments in the fields of education, statistical methodology, and technology and the implications of these developments for the nation's education statistics program. This paper summarizes and synthesizes the results of…

To assist in its mission of providing information in the most timely manner, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) contracted for a study of current modes of information dissemination to its user population that would also identify new and emerging technologies for information dissemination. The project is divided into three phases…

In 1969, the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) established a centralized student-specific data system from which state and federal reports and management information could be developed. However, this system provides no information about students and graduates after they leave the system. In order to augment the inconsistent data gathered…

Ethnographic research (1) observes human behavior in its natural setting over a substantial period of time, (2) claims that classes of events are better understood through intensive examination of carefully selected particular cases, (3) incorporates as many of the complexities and variables into a setting as possible, and (4) is usually comprised…

This notebook contains 21 standards established by the Center for Educational Statistics (CES); CES legislation; and a description of the CES publication and publication review processes. The publication clearance procedures and the external advice and peer review policies are established by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement…

Basic issues concerning interpretive research, and theories and methods of using interpretive research to study teaching are discussed. The concept of interpretive research may also be known as ethnographic, qualitative, participant observational, case study, symbolic interactionist, phenomenological, or constructivist. Interpretive research…

The main objective of this study was the development of an evaluation and reporting system that would provide information considered to be meaningful to those involved at the local, district, state, and federal levels. Subobjectives are to determine the amount and type of evaluation information needed at each level to assess the ability and…

The report reviews three years of progress toward implementing the Career Information System (CIS), a statewide interagency consortium that provides current labor market and educational information in usable forms to students and clients and assists in the integration of such information into schools and social agencies in Oregon. The system's…

The Buckley Amendment, formally entitled the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, grants parents the right to review all records that schools maintain on their children, and to force the removal of any inaccurate or misleading data. However, its major impact on educational research is linked to its provision requiring written…

This paper presents the research design for a longitudinal study of elementary school students, which will examine patterns of cognitive, affective, and social growth and identify the school and home variables which influence such growth. Shifts in dependent variables during a single school year will be examined during the initial year for all…

A general description is provided of the vocational education program within the secondary schools of predominately rural Appalachia, as well as an indication of where the vocational education program may be strengthened to make instructional offerings relevant to the jobs available to Appalachian secondary school students. Discussion includes…

These two volumes contain a complete report on an inventory of the state of educational research in Quebec, as surveyed in 1968-1969. Four different populations--deans, professors of education, graduate students in education, and educational researchers other than faculties of education--were studied, using a particular instrument designed for the…

This report provides an evaluation of the Online at PA Libraries project which was initiated in the Fall of 1996 by the Pennsylvania Department of Education's Office of Commonwealth Libraries and the Schuylkill Intermediate Unit. The report documents that the following goals were accomplished: (1) provide public access to the Internet through…

Action research is an approach to professional development and improved student learning in which teachers systematically reflect on their work, seek feedback from colleagues, and make changes in their practice. Several benefits of action research have been cited: (1) teachers investigate their own practice in a new way, looking at what children…