Six journals containing 1,913 empirical studies are reviewed for trends in special education research: Exceptional Children, Journal of Special Education, Journal of Learning Disabilities, American Journal of Mental Deficiency, Psychology in the Schools, and Journal of School Psychology. Type of exceptionality, research topic, and research design…

Research on classroom rewards is reviewed with emphasis on the effect of seeing another student rewarded for performing the same task that the observing classmate has performed. Four further experiments are briefly described, and research variables are reviewed. Suggestions are made for increasing the effects on peers of implicit rewards. (GDC)

Relies on a study of articles on agronomy and engineering to argue that teachers of technical style need to examine more closely the structures used by technical writers, particularly subordinate clauses that may be a means of distinguishing the "languages" of various technical disciplines. (EL)

Empirical Bayes methods are shown to provide a practical alternative to standard least squares methods in fitting high dimensional models to sparse data. An example concerning prediction bias in educational testing is presented as an illustration. (Author)

Despite the short comings of the ethnic-religious measure and the number of respondents in some of the sample cells, the findings make a case for more detailed and systematic studies of the socialization impact of ethnicity and religiousity. (Author)

This paper discusses the seven types of research tools that have potential for advancing knowledge about student services in California Community Colleges. The seven tools are the following: literature review, data validation, survey research, case study, quasi experiment, meta analysis, and statistical modeling. The report gives reasons why each…

An Australian study was conducted to develop a strategy for safe use of farm chemicals by Asian migrant market gardeners in Western Sydney. The researchers chose to use participatory approaches for which policy makers and development practitioners had in other studies shown enthusiasm, although this enthusiasm could not at times be sustained…

In response to the need for data on higher education faculty and instructional staff, the National Center for Education Statistics conducted the National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF) in 1987-88 and 1992-93. Both cycles of the NSOPF consisted of an institutional component and a faculty component. The earlier study surveyed only faculty…

This qualitative study investigated the following questions: (1) How quickly can first graders master basic e-mailing skills? (2) Does communicating through the Internet and e-mail provide motivation or incentive for children to read or write? (3) Will children write with specific conventions due to having an identifiable audience to whom they are…

This article reviews the literature of hypermedia research. Several perceived problems are identified, including: irrelevant assessment of outcome variables; weak methodological design in conducting experimental research; lack of theoretical foundations in designing hypertext systems; lack of specification of precise learning outcomes; and lack of…

To comfort, educate, enlighten, and even entertain are some words used to describe the role of a minister, but how to determine a minister's effectiveness is a complicated task. The literature on what constitutes an effective minister can be described by four broad categories: the minister's personality, motivations and personal preferences,…

In coming to better value teachers' knowledge and practice, there is a need to be able to articulate and document what teachers know and are able to do. This is central in coming to understand pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). This paper presents a working understanding of PCK as it has emerged through a research project and describes the…

Effective schools research problems (unreliable descriptions and definitions, over-dependency on tests, research limited primarily to elementary schools) result in narrow formulas leading to increased standardization, neglect of nonacademic areas, and failure to improve in schools with high test scores. Author urges using broader, more complex…

Provides an update of a National Opinion Research Center Study comparing the functioning of public and private schools. Answers questions concerning the schools and students involved; conclusions; findings regarding enrollment patterns, discipline and course offerings, student attitudes, Catholic schools, minority students, and achievement levels;…

This study compares multitrait-multimethod analyses (MTMM) performed on items and factor scores derived from the items. Based upon this demonstration, researchers are encouraged to conduct a preliminary factor analysis before analyzing MTMM data whenever there is a doubt about the underlying trait structure. (Author/PN)