Background/Context: School finance litigation has often prompted funding reforms, but what happens as a result is the subject of considerable dispute. Purpose: This article explores design problems encountered in studies examining the nature and effects of those reforms. Analysis: After describing the development and current status of school…

This report misrepresents and then criticizes recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Education, a think tank and two independent study groups, each of which recently encouraged particular voluntary efforts to reduce concentrated poverty and achieve racial and socioeconomic integration in schools and housing in Minnesota. In building its…

This paper briefly describes the history of the Golden Fleece Award given monthly by Senator William Proxmire for "the biggest waste of taxpayers' money" in the form of grants for research. It particularly focuses on the case brought by Dr. R. R. Hutchinson who was the recipient of the Golden Fleece Award for his research on the…

The article examines the ethics and case law associated with the "works for hire" principle concerning institutional or researcher ownership of research data. Institutions are encouraged to clearly state their policies regarding ownership of data. Guidelines for such a policy are presented. (Author/DB)

Questions assumptions by Schoenfeld and Zirkel in a study reviewing gender discrimination cases against institutions of higher education. Critiques the methodology used in that study, cautions about the overall utility of "outcomes analysis," and reports more promising routes of empirical legal research. (15 references) (MLF)

A comprehensive legal research and bibliographic guide to all phases of American law is presented in this book, from law for the laymen to jurisprudence, from how to find a case to Supreme Court research. It is intended for a general audience, and to familiarize the reader with the tools of legal research and education by providing in one…

Examines relevant case law regarding confidentiality in educational research. Argues that the benefits to society of educational research and the notion of academic freedom provide a rationale for extension of limited legal privilege of confidentiality to educational researchers. Proposes a code defining the nature and extent of research…

Addresses the research issues raised in several Federal cases involving the Freedom of Information Act. Outlines implications for the possible abrogation of researchers' property rights to their data and the potential breach of the confidential researcher-subject relationship. (Author/APM)

Two studies of the cost-benefit analysis of correctional sentences are reviewed, which present conflicting results. Although such analysis has not determined a way to implement the selective incapacitation of criminals, it has identified the critical determinants of the decision to sentence criminals to prison or probation. (SLD)

A review of primary sources relative to the death of John Sassamon, an American Indian, reveals the difficulties of ethnocentrism, religious bias, and/or personal interest encountered by historians. (JC)

Prospective studies have been held out as a kind of Holy Grail in research about remembering or forgetting child sexual abuse. They seem to hold the perfect answer to the verification problems that plague retrospective self-reports in the clinical literature. Prospective studies begin with verified cases of abuse. Then they require detective work…

Demonstrates that in research about prison sentencing different definitions and alternate techniques yield different results. Offers two conceptualizations of the sentencing decision and then applies either discriminate or multivariate analysis accordingly. Concludes that such definitions shape the research question, direct the focus of inquiry,…

Large-scale cases of child sexual abuse in settings such as day care centers have received a great deal of public and legal attention. This attention has complicated attempts to research the effects of such victimization on child development. Described in this paper are difficulties encountered by a Michigan group investigating the effects of…

Although educational productivity research has been much debated in school finance litigation, it has proven largely irrelevant to resolution by the courts of broad equity issues raised by the allocation of educational resources among school districts. Relevant court cases and arguments, current legal trends, and possible future directions are…

Each of the four issues of this newsletter published in 1993 consists of one article dealing with a particular policy debate. Number 1, "Canadian Special Education Policies: Children with Learning Disabilities in a Bilingual and Multicultural Society" (Linda S. Siegel and Judith Wiener), discusses social and cultural factors affecting…