This report recounts how four high schools were able to narrow or completely close the achievement gap and sustain their success over time. The four schools are all large, comprehensive public high schools that serve large percentages of minority students. They were selected based on their four-year record of narrowing or closing the achievement…

This audit, fourth in an annual series, tracks incidents of violence against Asian Pacific Americans in 1996 using data from a variety of sources. There was an increase of 17% in reported anti-Asian incidents in 1996, raising the total of suspected and confirmed incidents to 534. Although data were difficult to obtain, harassment increased by 161%…

This College Library Information Packet (CLIP) Note explores how faculty status affects librarians' promotion and tenure opportunities and the criteria at various institutions for defining librarians' status. In September 1995, a survey was sent to a group of 265 small and medium sized academic libraries, eliciting a response rate of 70% (n=185).…

This handbook was undertaken in response to the needs expressed by the higher education community for a common language--common data categories and definitions--to describe the human resources of postsecondary education institutions, and is intended as a basic guide to help institutions develop analytically useful databases of faculty and staff to…

This paper describes two uses of the Microsoft Access relational database software in the Wake County (North Carolina) public schools: first, to track data on students involved in the Student Support Team (SST) Process; and second, to handle the legal and procedural due process steps that occur after a student has been suspended from school. The…

This introductory level text provides a background for understanding the uses of qualitative research in education, its theoretical and historical underpinnings, and specific methods of educational research. This revised edition places qualitative research into the context of current discussions of research methods and alternative ways of knowing.…

During the 1991-92 school year, 109 public school library book collections in Louisiana were surveyed to determine the average ages of volumes in various categories, including all Dewey decimal numbers. Results showed that the average age of books in Louisiana public school libraries was 23.51 years in 1992. The average age of the computerized…

The purpose of this study is to examine student perceptions of instructional techniques that promote language learning. The intent was to inform practice for current and future foreign language teachers. Eight major themes emerged from interviews with numerous advanced level foreign students from throughout central Indiana. These themes include…

This technical report presents issues related to defining and applying accountability systems for young children, including those with disabilities. It notes that reaching shared perspectives on definitions of accountability systems and their constituents remains complicated by the number of levels to which such systems can apply (e.g., child-,…

A research study conducted by a classroom teacher explored the question of to what extent increased parent involvement through increased parent-teacher communication will act as a motivating factor for students in a seventh-grade reading classroom and whether this will relate positively to student success in reading. Parents and children took…

Many of today's popular sports are based around the use of a ball yet none are alike. In fact, they are all designed with specific characteristics in mind. In this activity, students investigate different balls' ability to bounce and represent the data they collect graphically. This activity uses a time frame of 100 minutes. (Author/SOE)

In 1999, Public Education Network received a 3-year grant as part of a set of projects to better link research and data to policy and practice change. The project was intended to build public knowledge and understanding of how to improve teaching through the collection, analysis, and dissemination of data on teachers and teaching. The project…

Appalachian State University (ASU) is a participating institution in the North Carolina Consortium for Distance Education in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD). This Consortium initiated a successful distance education masters program in 1997. The distance education program at ASU is actually a hybrid program, providing the opportunity for…

This brief paper analyzes the types of information about disproportionality of particular racial/ethnic groups in special education that states provided in the Biennial Performance Reports (BPRs) submitted to the U.S. Department of Education in 2002 (covering the academic years 1991-2000 and 2000-2001). A section on the study's background notes…

This book focuses on the relevance of statistics in the day-to-day lives of principals and teachers. The step-by-step guide to using existing school data can help school leaders make more appropriate and effective decisions. The information is presented with easy-to-follow instructions, illustrations, and pertinent examples. The chapters are: (1)…