A racially mixed random sample of 247 students at a midsized public university in the Southeast completed the Student Development Task and Lifestyle Inventory at the beginning of their first year, beginning of their sophomore year, and end of their senior year (Winston, Miller & Prince, 1987). Results showed partial support of Chickering and…

This article discusses how Roland G. Tharp and his colleagues from the Center for Research on Education, Diversity, & Excellence, a federal research center at the University of California, identify methods to help "nonmainstream" pupils make academic gains. Tharp has identified five standards that he says mark effective instruction…

There has been renewed discussion of the scientific method, with many voices arguing that it presents a very limited or even wholly incorrect image of the way science is really done. At the same time, the idea of a scientific method is pervasive. This article identifies the scientific method as a simple model for the process of scientific inquiry.…

Objective: Assessing the achievement of social work educational outcomes is a requirement of the Council on Social Work Education's Educational Policy and Standards (EPAS). The Evaluation Self-Efficacy Scale (ESE) was created to assess student progress in advanced concentration courses focused on evaluation and thereby provide data regarding…

Objectives: A national survey finds that 62% of social work programs do not require didactic and clinical supervision in any empirically supported psychotherapy (EST). The authors report the results of analysis of national survey data using two alternative classifications of EST to determine if the results are because of the definition of EST used…

In the current debate about the abstractness of children's early grammatical knowledge, Tomasello & Abbott-Smith (2002) have suggested that children might first develop "weak" or "partial" representations of abstract syntactic structures. This paper attempts to characterize these structures by comparing the development of constructions around…

The relevance of attachment theory and research for practice has become increasingly clear. The authors describe a series of studies with 3 aims: (a) to validate measures of attachment for use by clinicians with adolescents and adults (b) to examine the relation between attachment and personality pathology, and (c) to ascertain whether factor…

Purpose: This commentary, written in response to Alan Kamhi's paper, "Treatment Decisions for Children with Speech-Sound Disorders," further considers the "what" or goal selection process of decision making with the aim of efficiency--getting the most change in the shortest time. Method: My comments reflect a focus on the client values piece of…

Purpose: This paper is a personal reaction to Gillam and Gillam's treatise on evidence-based decision making in schools. This evaluation focuses principally on the costs and benefits of clinicians' search for external evidence, potential problems associated with efforts to grade that evidence, and the integration of this evidence with "internal"…

This report presents findings of an evaluation, conducted in 1994, of 10 Leadership in Accountability Demonstration (LAD) schools in the San Diego City Schools. The report provides information on the status of accountability implementation, particularly regarding the schools' recognition and intervention practices. The evaluation sought to…

Application review is the most important part of the Department of Education's funding process and is designed to ensure that projects are worthwhile and that awards are fair and impartial. The critical step in application review is competitive, objective evaluation by reviewers. This workbook was developed by the Department of Education to…

The purpose of the study was to discover various reasons for teaching United States history in the secondary classroom. The information was intended to assist teachers in identifying, designing, and formulating their own rationales for classroom use. Two questions provided the focus for the study: (1) what rationales for teaching history were…

Two sections comprise this essay describing the process of planning for educational change. The first section defines values, goals, and operating procedures. These factors combine to facilitate educational change. The second section identifies the three phases of educational planning. Needs assessment, management techniques, and evaluation…

Although the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 does not specify the primary purpose of the Special Emphasis Program, it is generally categorized as serving a dual function of research/demonstration and service delivery. A General Accounting Office (GAO) review was held to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of the…

The major component of the second year investigation was to study the relative effectiveness of an innovative individualized instructional system in physical education (I CAN) for severely retarded elementary age students. Seven students randomly selected from either an I CAN class or a control class were used for all analyses. Data were collected…