The purpose of this report was to explore one way in which quantitative and qualitative paradigms in program evaluation can be employed to reinforce each other. An evaluation was conducted of a large number of special education programs for preschoolers with handicaps in Louisiana. Since 1978, Louisiana has funded programs in 65 public school…

The Infant/Toddler Program of the Louise Child Care Center began providing full time day care to young children of working parents in the fall of 1978. While delivering this service, the Center conducted a longitudinal, exploratory investigation into the responses of children and their families to a group-home day care setting. The study was…

The Naturalistic Evaluation Methodology presented here rests on a transactionist theory of child development, an ecological view of human behavior and the quasi-clinical method of inquiry. It is intended that the procedures will lead not only to the improvement of the quality of preschool education but will generate knowledge about children's…

This curriculum guide was developed for use with public television's Nature series. The materials in the guide are designed to help students actively participate in the study and experience of nature. Students are encouraged to view the programs as naturalists would, observing animals in a variety of habitats, noting their behavior, and drawing…

Discusses a number of ethical dilemmas encountered during different stages of qualitative research. Outlines problems specific to entering the field, being in the field, leaving the field, writing, and dissemination. Recounts an incident from ethnographic research that illustrates problems concerning conflicting roles and maintaining objectivity.…

Describes an in-class activity where children and their parents are invited to an undergraduate child development class. The children's ages match the developmental stages that the class is studying. The parents/children discuss various issues with the students. Briefly outlines some of the discussion patterns that occur. (MJP)

A technologically driven instructional assessment protocol, behavioral field systems evaluation, is explored relative to current application in movement education classrooms in a public school. The instrument, the Behavioral Evaluation Strategy and Taxonomy, was successfully applied to two elementary school teacher aggregates of six subjects each.…

This guide provides precise, detailed descriptions of empirically validated best practices to promote learning in infants and young children with disabilities. It is designed to be a practical and comprehensive, easy-to-read introductory methods text that addresses the fundamental issues associated with implementing the legislative mandates of the…

The naturalistic study described in this report was conducted for the purpose of determining the perspectives held by beginning teachers, the decisions based on those perspectives, the factors affecting perspectives and decision making, and implications of the knowledge gained for refining and redesigning teacher preparation and inservice training…

This paper reports on a study conducted to examine a shift in responsibility for learning to the students in an advanced placement American history class. Specifically, the extent to which students (N=9) were analytic in their thinking and writing and self-directed in their work was investigated. Naturalistic inquiry and comparative analysis were…

A naturalistic case study, involving a 2-year collaboration between 14 classroom teachers and eight university researchers studying 250 middle and high school students, examined the types of principles underlying effective literature instruction that emphasizes the development of students' reasoning abilities in the context of their understanding…

Ethnographic research (1) observes human behavior in its natural setting over a substantial period of time, (2) claims that classes of events are better understood through intensive examination of carefully selected particular cases, (3) incorporates as many of the complexities and variables into a setting as possible, and (4) is usually comprised…

This paper describes the practical steps employed in controlling interview data generated from a research project investigating teachers' perspectives on the worth of a sex equity educational demonstration project. These perspectives were then considered as value frameworks that might be used to formulate and interpret a naturalistic-responsive…

The positivist paradigm has dominated the shape and direction of research in education. Traditionally the scientific method is adhered to, variables are strictly controlled, statistics are compiled, and conclusions are reached. In the post-positivist paradigm, studies conducted using naturalistic inquiry take place in the natural setting and do…

A case study of a teacher as a naturalistic inquirer is presented. A class in naturalistic inquiry methods was offered to practicing teachers and other graduate students during a 15-week semester. During the first two or three weeks, students read extensively about qualitative methods and identified a possible site to conduct a study. The…