Decision-oriented inquiries emanate from a specific need for information and are conducted under a number of constraints. Conclusion-oriented research originates with the researcher and can be pursued in ways decided on by the researcher. Two examples of decision-oriented evaluation studies conducted by school districts and the relationships…

The Pendleton Project residential service is a short term intensive care alternative to the long term, costly, and ineffective non-community based institutional model for treating children and families suffering from behavior problems. The residential services are designed to develop community competency from the vantage point of its unique…

This paper traces the history of a series of early studies designed to identify and document unusually successful compensatory education projects. One of the major characteristics of the early studies is that they were based upon review and analysis of existing literature. Although they used similar data bases they varied considerably in…

Results of a Government Accounting Office review of the administration of the National Direct Student Loan (NDSL) program by the Office of Education and participating universities is provided. Problems found concerned the need to: (1) provide program guidance at institutions so they can promptly and effectively implement established requirements…

This book assembles, excerpts, and comments on a variety of publications dealing with the problems and prospects for educational research and development (R&D). It is intended to help readers identify the problems and issues in educational R&D and to formulate some possible alternatuves for the future. Chapter 1 deals with the definitions of…

Relevant curriculums for post-secondary vocational-technical programs can be designed only after manpower needs are identified and a study is made of job skill requirements. This paper, the result of a review of current literature, was written in an attempt to decide: (1) What programs should be made available at the post-secondary level? (2) What…

Describes an evaluation of the added value of skills methods for preventing smoking with sixth-grade students from two schools. Skills conditions subjects learned problem-solving, self-instruction, and interpersonal communication methods. The article discusses the strengths, limits, and implications of the study for other smoking prevention…

Discusses the motivating factors, organization, training process, problems, and keys to success of a peer counseling program at an inner city Chicago high school. Student counselors are seniors recruited from psychology classes, who receive training, supervision, and support from the school social worker and psychology teachers. (MBR)

This research brief highlights studies of nationally- and locally-based youth mentoring programs. The programs were evaluated on an experimentally based design which compared a group of youth randomly assigned to a mentoring program with a group of youth who were not so assigned. The study found overall that mentoring programs can be effective…

This issue of the quarterly publication focuses on Fostering Success in School and Beyond for Students with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders. Editorial introduction notes that today's K-12 educators must effectively work with increasingly diverse populations in their classrooms, including educating students identified as having emotional/behavioral…

This document provides guidelines for fulfilling the requirements of the annual report for 2000-01 and 2001-02 of the Student Health Partnership, a program in Alberta, Canada, designed to provide health services to students with special health needs. The guidelines explain each of the annual report's required components, including: (1) a statement…

Seeking solutions for a troubled child welfare system, the Children's Action Alliance in Arizona held four forums throughout the state in 1997 at which participants were invited to give testimony on their experiences with the child welfare system--its positives and negatives--and their solutions for change. Along with their comments, this report…

This action research project examined the effectiveness of an intervention to improve social skills in order to improve student behavior, reduce off-task behavior, and reduce loss of instructional time. The targeted population was a sixth grade class with 25 students in an elementary school in a rural setting. The problem of student behavior,…

Describes the development and pilot testing of a marihauna education program for grades 7-10. The five-lesson program included a health belief model and a legal deterrance model. Results of the pilot test showed the health program had the greatest impact. (JAC)

Aside from being an invasion of privacy, values clarification exercises are inappropriate for most elementary students who, still in the concrete operations stage of mental development, are incapable of generalizing moral principles. It would be better to teach concrete problem-solving processes until the formal operations stage is reached. (SJL)