Survey of 95 medical school libraries found that 91.5 percent of copies of retracted articles were not tagged as being invalid, that 79 percent of the libraries had tagged none of the retracted studies; and only 16 percent had policies for managing articles that report invalid science. A common attitude against perceived library censorship was…

Describes the experiences of Cabrillo College (California) in constructing a personal computer-based student tracking system. Addresses data collection and such obstacles as access to the mainframe, limited/erroneous/inconsistent data, lack of information on within-semester persistence, and understated graduation rates. Reviews benefits. (DMM)

Based on a Phoenix (Arizona) school district's experience, this article shows central office administrators how to empower individual schools without abdicating control. Administrators should first identify all influential parties, seek successful pioneers in other districts, examine research findings, allow time for change, and delegate someone…

The futility of the debate between heredity and environment as determinants of intelligence is argued, with convictions inspired by C. Burt's work (apart from the question of fraud in his work). It is contended that the influence of this misconceived ideological disagreement is apparent in today's educational systems. (SLD)

Using structural equation technique to replicate results of Hasenfeld and Rafferty's causal model predicting public attitudes toward welfare state programs with the social ideologies of work ethic and social rights. By incorporating estimates of measurement error, results failed to support the authors' original conclusions. Operationalizing key…

Responds to Barry Hutchinson's views of Active Tutoring Work. Says Hutchinson's assumption that teachers are not policy makers is in error. Discusses problems in the teacher-researcher, action research model. Challenges the notion that Hutchinson's research impedes communication between teachers and researchers. (NL)

This article on the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented (a consortium of universities, state departments of education, parent groups, and school districts) addresses problems in research on gifted education, the Center's rationale and mission, its component parts, its research on typically underrepresented populations, and its…

Examines the degree to which the effects of apartheid on specific aspects of childhood can be better understood through a historical perspective on Black South African childhood. Historical viewpoints may shed new light on the image of Black children and on the current status of developmental psychology as it is practiced and researched in South…

Learning styles represent a type of aptitude-treatment interaction suggesting that a person's distinctive characteristics (aptitudes) can be matched to a specific treatment (instructional method) yielding a more effective outcome than could otherwise have been achieved. Special education research does not support categorizing youngsters or using…

This study examined 40 articles published in the "American Journal on Mental Retardation" or the "Journal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps" (JASH) from 1976-78 and 1986-88. Both journals published low numbers of articles with ecological validity in the late 1970s, but JASH subsequently increased…

Several researchers' assumptions regarding social skills of individuals with learning disabilities are refuted as representing an "either/or" empirical view. A postmodern view is presented, contending that exceptionalities are differentiated by looking at the quality of behaviors and possible antecedents rather than comparing them quantitatively,…

Responds to Herbert Zimiles's criticisms in this issue of an overreliance on empirical, quantitative data in child development research, arguing that, although quantitative research has limitations, intuition is no substitute for a rigorous, systematic investigation of a hypothesis. (MDM)

Assumptions and theories underlying grants peer review as a way to select research proposals for funding and its usefulness as an evaluation methodology are explored. Issues arising from the operation of peer-based systems at the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health are examined. (SLD)

Trends in European practice that relate to qualitative assessment in the evaluation of the impact of research and innovation are discussed and analyzed. To date, European evaluations have been mainly concerned with quality and direct impact with few assessments of medium- or long-term impact. (SLD)

To develop a perspective for assessing the effectiveness of developmental education, we must develop definitions, values, and criteria that permit consistency in analyzing students' learning needs and educational outcomes and in comparing research on developmental education. Research literature shows that a lack of consistent perspectives for…