Large-scale surveys of educational attainment gather data about the proficiencies of a sample of students to support inferences about the distribution in the populations. Several approaches to gathering data have been used, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Several scales have also been used to bring results together from different…

This handbook is a roadmap for action research facilitators to help groups as they work through the research process. It offers quotations, handouts, strategies, resources, and insights from actual experiences. The sections of the handbook follow the action research cycle, focusing on: "What is Action Research?"; "What is the Action…

Although multi-institutional data are more available than ever, researchers still face daunting hurdles when collecting data from multiple institutions. These hurdles are particularly high for stand-alone projects. This paper makes the case that, despite the difficulties, results from multi-institution research benefit both participating colleges…

This document presents the proceedings of a December 2001 policy forum of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education on describing and documenting school discipline. Included are summaries of the following presentations: "Opening Remarks" (Lou Danielson); "OSEP Data on School Discipline" (Elaine Carlson and Judy Holt);…

This CD-ROM contains the 1997 Private School Locator. It includes names, addresses, telephone numbers, enrollment, and other descriptive data for 29,845 private schools in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. It is derived from the 1997-98 Private School Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education…

This informational packet provides guidelines to help schools make the most of their school grounds and contains the following: a handbook; a loose leaf activity pack; videotape; and poster. The handbook provides information on each stage of the school ground development/change process, offers the rationale for improving school grounds, and lists…

This evaluation plan, which is updated annually, provides a synthesis of the various evaluation activities of Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL). During 1999, the fourth year of the Laboratory's contract period with the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, special studies and integrated studies were designed to…

A survey packet designed for primary schools in the United Kingdom is provided to help schools establish site monitoring activities that help involve the entire school community in evaluating and maintaining school grounds. The packet helps the community collect information on how the grounds are used and by whom, how the grounds are maintained…

This paper describes the design and function of Louisiana's statewide student-level database, the Student Information System (SIS). In Louisiana the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education adopted the dropout definition of the National Center for Education Statistics for use by all Louisiana public schools in the 1989-1990 school year.…

This examination of data selection preceding multivariate analysis compares results grained with "gentle" and "draconian" variable elimination. To acquire comparable results, two stages of statistical exploration into an integrated model of motivation, learning strategies, and quality of teaching were used. The goal of the…

As part of the evaluation of schools participating in the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) program, a site researcher is to visit each participating site twice a year to collect data for CSRD formative evaluation. To prepare site researchers for their evaluation activities, a training and orientation session was held for 18…

As part of the Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration (CSRD) program, schools participated in the Formative Evaluation Process for School Improvement (FEPSI), a package of services mainly provided during two visits each school year. This document reports on the evaluation of training for Georgia educators involved in FEPSI as site researchers.…

Action research is disciplined inquiry to improve the quality of an organization and its performance. It is a method for improving practice in which one collects data to diagnose problems, searches for solutions, takes action, and monitors how well it works. Action research is characterized by groups of colleagues working together for systematic…

While the widespread availability of competitive foods is well documented there is relatively little detailed data on the amounts of various types of competitive foods that are sold in schools or about their nutrient content. Such information is needed to estimate the full prevalence of competitive food sales and to determine the types of changes…

The purpose of this study is to suggest another source of information to be used for evaluating our teacher education programs. (Author)