This article proposes a social action, mixed methods approach to verifying the efficacy of vocational guidance programs. Research strategies are discussed in the context of how the processes and purposes of efficacy research have been conceptualized and studied in vocational psychology. Examples of how to implement this approach in future efficacy…

The "Value-Added School Review (VSR)" is an analytical model designed to assist schools in identifying and addressing opportunities for school improvement. The model works best when it is focused purposefully on students and the student learning outcomes as defined in the "Guide to Education". It complements the processes…

This guide is designed to help districts and schools evaluate reform efforts related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), including School Improvement Grants. It includes practical, how-to tips for conducting program evaluations, whether one takes a "do-it-yourself" approach or seeks outside assistance to evaluate reform…

This article describes the results of a qualitative case study evaluating a research mentorship program in community care settings in Ontario, Canada. The purpose of the program was to build evaluation and research capacity among staff of community care agencies through a mentorship program. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured…

The new South African curriculum known as Curriculum 2005 (to depict the year of its full implementation) requires that teachers integrate school science with Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS). Curriculum 2005 has generated heated debates at various levels since its inception in 1997. This study focuses on the effectiveness or otherwise of a…

The Journal of Agricultural Education has primarily published research that uses quantitative research methods. Perhaps this is due partly to the lack of a qualitative research conceptual framework to guide our profession. Most researchers in agricultural education were academically prepared to conduct empirical research. Those who are in the…

This paper reports on research into how effective non-statutory guidance has been in managing the primary science curriculum in England. A small-scale qualitative study was used to elicit the views of teachers, local education authority advisors, an Ofsted inspector and a policy-maker. The findings indicate that the guidance is influencing the…

Evaluating the effectiveness of career guidance programs is a complex process, and few comprehensive models for evaluating such programs exist. Evaluation of career guidance programs has been hampered by the myth that program outcomes are uniform and monolithic. Findings from studies of attribute treatment interactions have revealed only a few…

This study analyzes the cost effectiveness of a telephone survey, using data collected from a survey of 110 Tennessee public school superintendents. The subject of the survey was the status and need for elementary guidance. A telephone survey approach was selected based on time and cost factors, since information had to be completed in the…

We evaluated the role that social capital among teachers plays in affecting teacher pedagogy in the context of comprehensive school reform (CSR). CSR implementation was designed to change school- and classroom-level processes, including organization and governance, curriculum and instruction, professional development (PD), and parental…

The focus of this article is on the ways in which an analysis of professional discourse within a school can contribute to a school's self-evaluation. The project included an opportunity sample of nine schools and involved members of the research team, senior management and teachers in each school working in collaborative partnership. A research…

The investigation described in this study was a two part procedure which attempted to answer the general question: "Do the constructs of indecision and indecisiveness adequately describe disadvantaged individuals who experience difficulties in making a career decision?" The sampling was from a population of disadvantaged high school and college…

Through focused interviews with 119 elementary students, researchers examined children's understanding of vocational preparation requirements for 15 well-known jobs and participants' preferred occupations. Results indicated that, by fifth grade, children have developed the conceptual framework for understanding vocational preparation requirements…

In this article, two problems associated with the expectation that teachers use contemporary assessment techniques are examined. The first problem relates to teachers' sense-making of assessment data. Illustrative cases revealed that teachers' processes of interpretation of students' understanding, knowledge and learning of mathematics draws on a…

This, the first biennial report to Congress by the Director, as required under The Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA), describes three goals that have guided the work of the Institute and provides an overview of progress through the end of 2004. It describes the major projects carried out within each center of the Institute over the past two…