School counselors can play a powerful role in closing the achievement gap when they incorporate the principles of social justice into their practice. In this much-needed resource for preservice and inservice counselors, the author addresses factors (such as racism, sexism, heterosexism, and classism) that can contribute to academic failure, and…

This book is the third volume of the paperback versions of "The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research, Third Edition." This portion of the handbook considers the tasks of collecting, analyzing, and interpreting empirical materials, and comprises the Handbook's Parts IV ("Methods of Collecting and Analyzing Empirical Materials") and V ("The Art and…

This article describes findings from a classroom-based action research project conducted by two in-school teachers, a literacy coach and a 4th grade teacher, implementing a new integrated literacy and social studies curriculum and the changes they made in curricular practices and beliefs over a three-year period of time. A university professor…

Several studies examining computer-mediated communications (CMC) in online courses have found low levels of participation under both voluntary (ungraded) and mandatory (graded) conditions. This is troubling since student participation is widely considered to have a positive impact on performance. Program-level data were analyzed to explore the…

Listening skills research has tended to focus on strategy use in classrooms and on theory and practice of second language (L2) teachers. This study examined the teachers' and learners' perceptions of listening skills in non-classroom learning situations. Five (n = 5) study skills teachers and 19 former learners in a distance study skills course at…

In this technical report, we describe the development and piloting of a series of mathematics progress monitoring measures intended for use with students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade. These measures, available as part of easyCBM[TM], an online progress monitoring assessment system, were developed in 2007 and 2008 and administered to…

As the general public demands to know what and how students are learning, schools face some unprecedented issues of accountability regarding student performance. In order to acquire data which is accurate and useful, teachers are turning to more formative assessment methods. These methods convey the ideas that assessment should engage students in…

Despite the widespread attention given to education reform, no substantial knowledge base has existed for identifying and implementing effective reforms for at-risk student populations. This document, the third of three volumes, describes the research design for a study that identified the essential mechanics of effective reforms for students at…

This book guides library administrators through stages of long-range needs assessment, particularly taking what they know about their user community, library services, performance standards, and anticipated resources, and using that knowledge to determine space and building needs. Tips, explanations, and hands-on planning tools come through…

This book describes a project studying equity and staffing in higher education in the United Kingdom and documents the experiences in this area of three institutions of higher education, one each from the further education, "new" university, and traditional university sectors. The book is divided into nine chapters. Chapter 1 examines…

This qualitative study examined the perceived impact of the president on organizational change at five community colleges in one state, and is part of a multiple case study which is addressing organizational change in community colleges. The methodology for the study was based on the literature of organizational change which suggests four…

This report evaluates progress in including children with mental retardation in integrated educational environments and provides detailed tables providing state-by-state comparisons. A prologue by the executive director of The Arc, a national organization on mental retardation, notes that, for children with mental retardation, placement in…

Activities of the Special Issues Analysis Center (SIAC), a technical support center providing assistance to the Department of Education in serving the needs of limited-English-proficient (LEP) students through the Bilingual Education Act of 1988, are summarized. In the third year of its contract, SIAC performed these services: creation of a…

This manual provides documentation and guidance for users of the public release data file for the School Safety and Discipline component of the 1993 National Household Education Survey (NHES:93). Information about the purpose of the study, the data collection instruments, the sample design, and data collection and processing is presented. The…

Traditional methods for task analysis have been largely based on the Instructional Systems Development (ISD) model, which is widely used throughout industry and the military. The first part of this document gives an overview of cognitive task analysis, which is conducted within the first phase of ISD. The following steps of cognitive task analysis…