Reports intensive survey of medical library users in Oxford teaching hospitals and university science departments that employed six survey techniques (interview, questionnaire, feedback form, direct observation, reference-tracing experiment, library record analysis). Three distinct user types (practitioner, researcher, practitioner-researcher)…

A major change in the pattern of U.S. research on higher education is occurring, characterized by more emphasis on state policy, institutional type, and issues shared by institutions. Methodology is broadening to include more historic, ethnographic, and qualitative research as well as quantitative study. (MSE)

Suggests the need for research in the following areas: (1) the continued use of inappropriate approaches to teaching language skills; (2) the lack of required student participation in volunteer work within the school or community; and (3) the lack of organization in school systems to facilitate the ongoing collection and organization of data for…

A brief history of the Law School Admission Council and its work outlines its early role in aptitude testing, early organizational considerations, modern testing effort, and other services. A chart lists some law school applicant and student demographics from 1947 to the present. (MSE)

To stay healthy, legal education must enhance greatly its information, planning capacities, resources for management of financial risk, and development of investment capital. Planned diversification of risk could make survival of broad-based quality legal education possible; otherwise schools will be forced to accept any cash-bearing applicant.…

A method of estimating resident staffing needs is evaluated, including discussion of (1) methodological changes needed to estimate needs for service care and assisting attending physicians with private cases; (2) data collection; (3) representative findings; (4) using cost, ease of use, understandability, communicability, and validity as…

Historical demography--the study of population in the past, its relation to the environment and economy, and the effects that inter-relationship had on the broad development of society--is an approach that can make the study of history dynamic. The historical development and methodology for historical demography are discussed. (RM)

Implementation of the "No Child Left Behind Act" for the first time, required states to hold every school and district accountable to the same standards of academic performance, standards that apply to all students, including the low-income and minority students who have been traditionally underserved. Because states must report their progress to…

This book, in its second edition, is intended as a practical guide to conducting action research in schools--it outlines the process of designing and reporting an action research project. Contending that action research can be used as a powerful tool that can contribute to school renewal and instructional improvement, the book defines and presents…

This document is designed to address the educational needs of the growing and diverse California population. It outlines and describes the roles and responsibilities of the California Postsecondary Education Commission. In addition to recurring responsibilities related to data collection and reporting, information dissemination, and legislative…

This testimony highlights two components of the 1998 amendments to the Higher Education Act (which were intended to enhance the quality of classroom teaching by improving training programs for prospective teachers and qualifications of current teachers). One component provides grants, and another, called the "accountability provisions," requires…

National Board Certification is a voluntary process established by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) to measure what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do. Certification is achieved through a rigorous performance-based assessment that takes between one and three years to complete. As of November 2004,…

The Cognitive Approaches to School Leadership (CASL) Project builds on cognitive-science theories of how people think about problems, with special reference to related studies of administrative practice in general and educational administration in particular. This paper is the second of two papers that reports findings from clinical studies of…

The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) is one of the largest public school districts in the United States. Since 1989-90, there have been questions about several aspects of DCPS's enrollment-count process. A valid enrollment-count process and an accurate count are critical to DCPS's district- and school-level planning, staffing, funding,…

This policy brief examines issues associated with accurately collecting and reporting placement data for students with disabilities. It notes that existing federal reporting requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and traditional state data systems may actually impede the collection of accurate data regarding the…