The curriculum conference is a specific, practical strategy for deliberative curriculum problem solving at the district or national level. This article explains the deliberation method and its two important characteristics, argumentation and interaction. An analysis of all three decision-making processes in one such conference showed that…

Discusses issues involved with selecting a methodology and data analysis technique for studying divergent views of the family. Qualitative and quantitative methods, and linear and nonlinear models, are described. Statistical and theoretical issues regarding the use of discrepancy scores are examined. (BC)

Examined strategies that students reported using in the comprehension and learning of new information while listening to two radio broadcasts in Spanish. The findings have implications for both the use of authentic listening materials in instruction and for listening strategy research. (51 references) (LB)

A simple statistical model to measure the effects of innovation and schooling is proposed. Synthesis of 134 meta-analyses revealed that educational innovations can be expected to change average achievement by 0.4 standards deviations and affective outcomes by 0.2 standard deviations. Innovation and feedback appear to enhance effects;…

A study compared three methods for measuring college student growth and development in the course of a college education: (1) gain scores; (2) residual scores; and (3) repeated measures. Analyses indicated that all three are seriously flawed, although repeated measures offer the greatest potential for adequately representing student change.…

Data are presented which show changes in the size of residential programs serving people with mental retardation/developmental disabilities. Trends from 1982 through 1992 are summarized and statistics are given for each state showing the average number of residents per setting and the percent of residents in settings with less than 16 or less than…

Describes a study that used quantitative data from a mailed survey and qualitative data produced from focused interviews to explore what effects an academic boycott had on faculty members at South African universities. Differences in the effects of the boycott in science and technology, humanities, and social science are examined. (Contains 15…

Using a salary model and data from the University of Minnesota, this study found that unexplained salary differential between male and female faculty was reduced by 14% when faculty citations were added to the model. The technique for statistical analysis is recommended because of its ease of standardization and application. (MSE)

A two-part study applied the mathematical technique of Data Envelopment Analysis to assess the comparability of self-evaluation and peer evaluation in higher education, for both students and faculty. Focus is on the technique itself: its rationale, prerequisites for use, and insights yielded by the analysis. (Author/MSE)

Examines how popular music preference in listening exercises influences apparent time passage in a study involving 80 University of Texas, Austin, music and nonmusic major undergraduate students. Shows no significant relationship between music preference and apparent time passage. Finds no significant differences attributable to level of music…

This review covers the status of languages and literacy in the countries of southern Africa, policies of literacy promotion, and the emerging symbioses among spoken languages and among literacies in mother tongues, national or official languages, and metropolitan languages. Five statistical tables are included. (66 references) (LB)

The article examines the concepts of power and control in research design and applies them to a review of the validity of three studies (EC 600 064-066) evaluating the effectiveness of using Irlen tinted lenses with reading-disabled persons. Internal validity, external validity, statistical conclusion validity, and construct validity are…

Reviews essays on statistical analysis of literature from the journal "Computers and the Humanities." Divides the essays into four groups: the philosophical, statistical analyses of language, literary texts, and themes. Questions whether valid statistical analysis of any text must be based on complete linguistic description. Emphasizes…

Examines the effects of competition and cooperation on learning through computer-assisted instruction (CAI). A questionnaire was administered to 457 Israeli fourth graders who used two CAI arithmetic systems. The characteristics of the systems are discussed, and the results of the survey are correlated to students' gender and achievement levels.…

Describes the PADOK-II project in Germany, which was designed to give information on the effects of linguistic algorithms on retrieval in a full-text database, the German Patent Information System (GPI). Relevance assessments are discussed, statistical evaluations are described, and searches are compared for the full-text section versus the…