The desire to abolish the gap between research theory and classroom practice has sparked an increasing interest in field-based research among science educators. Although most researchers are aware of the standard meanings of informed consent and confidentiality, and there are some codes of ethical principles published by such groups as the…

The purpose of this report is to develop a strategy for improving both national and state forecasts of future attrition rates. A theory of teacher attrition is developed that attempts to account for the disparate reasons for attrition, and to explain the patterns of attrition unique to each life cycle and career stage. Existing literature on…

This inquiry was conducted to examine influences on perceptions of survey subjects regarding ideographic characteristics of the subjects, incentives to enhance mail returns, and multiple requests for information. A mail survey sent to 297 former education students from a large university produced responses from 48.3% of the sample. The ideographic…

This manual describes the model--specifically the observation procedures and coding systems--used in a longitudinal study of how children learn to comprehend what they read, with particular emphasis on science texts. Included are procedures for the following: identifying students; observing--recording observations and diagraming the room; writing…

Summative evaluation is the final stage of the evaluation framework developed by the Center for the Study of Evaluation. Evaluation is a decision-oriented activity. The four-stage evaluation framework consists of needs assessment, program planning, formative and summative evaluation. The handbook presents exercises in summative evaluation. The…

Guidelines are presented for implementing the self-evaluation model for instructional programs developed at American River College (ARC). After stating the reasons for conducting program reviews, the paper describes ARC's model, which uses a mini-accreditation approach to assess the extent of goal attainment within a broad category of activities…

This volume contains four papers presented at a 1982 conference sponsored by the National Council on Employment Policy. It begins with a brief policy statement warning that labor force and productivity data systems face deterioration because of budget cuts that have forced a decline in the quality and quantity of the published information and…

Practical information is supplied that can be directly applied to early childhood projects and used for staff inservice in data collection procedures. This information assists in documenting the overall effectiveness of an approach and aids in making the frequent educational decisions to ensure the child is benefiting from instruction. Separate…

Data collection and analysis procedures adapted from the fields of anthropology, developmental psychology, and linguistics have been instrumental in advancing writing process research. Two such models of study are the embedded case study and the researcher as participant observer. The embedded case study research design embeds small group…

A microcomputer spreadsheet software package can be used for a variety of tasks to manage a program or research project and to cut costs in evaluation. LOTUS 1 2 3 is a versatile, commonly available, and well-known electronic spreadsheet package. Spreadsheets were originally designed to emulate financial ledgers and balance sheets. They are useful…

This paper focuses on both conceptual and methodological issues involved in the utilization of different need assessment strategies. Among the strategies discussed are: (1) key informant; (2) community forum; (3) service utilization; (4) social indicators; and (5) citizen survey. Each of these more commonly used need assessment strategies: (1) has…

The most feasible method for constructing a Navajo population register was to produce a preliminary register from data contained in existing records and to perfect and extend this register either through subsequent clerical and record-accumulating operations, the existing school census operation, a special program of field enumeration, or a…

Personnel at Saint Louis University's Department of Education have been theorizing, researching, and enlarging an approach to program evaluation that focuses heavily on the place of values in making judgments. This work originally stemmed from general curriculum evaluative theory developed by James H. McElhinney and Richard C. Kunkel. The content…

The present study is the fourth in a series in an attempt to obtain the supply and demand of teachers baselines for subsequent use in planning and for rendering some guidance to those who enter the College of Education, Saskatoon. (Author/RK)