Research conducted by Patrick Clancy and by Fitzpatrick Associates and Philip O'Connell on the level of representation of socio-economic groups amongst higher education entrants has been a key element in the development of access policy and practice in Ireland. This article reviews the context for the development of access and explores the…

This study demonstrates how value-added research undertaken at the local education authority (LEA) is used directly by heads and teachers in their efforts to raise standards in schools. It draws on a decade of experience of supporting schools in the effective use of performance data for school self-improvement. The article highlights the various…

Economic development in South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Ireland has accelerated dramatically since the 1960s, as it has in China more recently. These areas share a common element in their development strategies--the aggressive pursuit, acquisition, and incorporation of knowledge from industrialized nations. In this article, the…

The current high-stakes accountability environment has created strong incentives for educators to systematically collect and use data to inform instructional decisions. This article examines the strategies employed by three urban school districts to promote data use for instructional improvement and their effect on administrator, principal, and…

What types of instructional experiences help K-8 students learn science with understanding? What do science educators, teachers, teacher leaders, science specialists, professional development staff, curriculum designers, and school administrators need to know to create and support such experiences? "Ready, Set, Science!" guides the way with an…

From April to September 1995, Arizona's Maricopa Community College District (MCCD) conducted interviews with faculty and staff to develop a database of innovative practices related to the District's desired learning paradigms. This report describes results from the study in three sections. The first section summarizes the project's research…

This handbook provides information to help the policymaker or educator understand the research process in order to study problems and opportunities associated with the education of girls in Africa. In Africa, girls account for only 57% of the school-age population. They are more likely to drop out of school and to score lower on the examinations…

The Mid-South Educational Research Association (MSERA), organized in 1972, is a nonprofit organization with the purposes of encouraging quality educational research in the mid-South and promoting the application of the results of quality educational research in the schools. This volume contains abstracts of more than 300 discussion papers,…

This book examines much of the large body of research on educational inequality in Britain since the Second World War, focusing on studies concerned with inequalities in the internal organization and functioning of the schools. A social constructionist approach to the study of social problems as a way of providing a reflexive perspective on the…

In response to recommendations from an accreditation visit regarding improvements in the utilization of research findings, Washington's Bellevue Community College (BCC) developed this assessment inventory to give faculty and staff a more complete understanding of student outcomes and assessment efforts at the college. Following an executive…

Program evaluation can be understood as the process of looking at how all aspects of a program or department have been functioning as the basis for informed planning and decision making. Although the objective dimensions used in evaluations can vary, methodologies can be categorized according to the four category framework (i.e., describing…

In a survey of educational researchers, school and district administrators, and policymakers, 1,818 respondents rated educational practices and policies according to their influence on learning and assessability. Classroom practices, design and delivery of curriculum, and schoolwide practices were rated as more influential than federal, state, and…

This collection of descriptions of research at the Center for Research on Effective Schooling for Disadvantaged Students opens with "Center Seeks To Improve Education for Disadvantaged Students," a discussion of the mission of the Center to improve schooling for the disadvantaged through new knowledge and practices produced by rigorous…

This volume of proceedings of the Mid-South Educational Research Association's 23rd annual meeting contains abstracts of discussion sessions, display sessions, symposia, and training sessions. Over 320 abstracts and annotations are included, for sessions that cover the whole range of educational research. Assessment and measurement, educational…

In 1991, a study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of the institutional research (IR) office at Miami-Dade Community College (M-DCC). Two surveys were used to gather information for the study. The first was sent to the 285 M-DCC employees and board members on the IR office's mailing list, while the second was sent to 43 individuals,…