Data from 86 Early Childhood Education (ECE) projects in Oregon were analyzed using methods prescribed by the Value Added model for ECE evaluation. The extent to which appropriate model implementation procedures were followed is unknown. Thus, the results represent an empirical account of the model's estimates of project impact, rather than a…

When different individuals operating in different contexts implement similar innovations, they approach the various parts of the innovation in different ways. When assessed according to the research procedures used to study innovation implementation at the Research and Development Center for Teacher Education at the University of Texas at Austin,…

The nature of controversial programs is discussed, including problems that such programs pose for evaluators and suggested solutions for the problems. Controversial programs are likely to generate news-media attention, internal conflicts (i.e., involving the program and evaluation staffs) and external conflicts (i.e., involving various advocacy…

A study was made of the relationship between children's play behaviors and sociometric status, with particular attention to the influence of play materials on behavior. Subjects were 95 children, ranging in age from 44 to 60 months, attending 10 preschool classrooms. Sixty observations were made of each child's play behaviors. Sociometric measures…

Graphics research history shows that some topics have been studied heavily while others have been almost entirely neglected. Furthermore, researchers have used many different methods of defining and measuring effects such as legibility and comprehension, and this, together with vagueness in reporting, makes it difficult to compare studies and draw…

The paper asserts that learning disabilities is a "cherished ailment" in that so little is definitively known about the condition or about effective treatment, and further, that school systems and practitioners benefit from the large numbers of students diagnosed as LD. It is suggested that the traditional view of LD precludes alternative…

Research suggests that when subjects are given a rule as to how to translate auditory or verbal information into images, the images have many common characteristics with cognitive representations derived from visual perceptions. This experiment examined the process of cognitive integration and the similarities and differences between how imagined…

The Research on the Improvement Process (RIP) Program of the Research and Development Center for Teacher Education has made the investigation of the change process in high schools their primary research priority for the 1980s. In this paper, the high school research endeavors of the RIP program are described, with special attention being given to…

Commonalities between the philosophical perspectives of Alfred Schatz, a European phenomenologist, and George Herbert Mead, the father of symbolic interactionism, are discussed, and the two men's potential significance in social science research is examined. Both men were concerned with the question of the nature of social action, believing that…

This paper suggests that considering fundamental issues in educational research may help researchers conceptualize more productive research methodologies for computer based instruction (CBI). Inconsistent findings and methodological shortcomings in media research, including CBI, raise the possibility that current research methodologies may be…

The questions raised in this article have to do with how to take due care of the subjectivity of the persons involved in a research project. My main point is that a researcher's self-reflection on ethical problems is inextricably a part of doing research in early childhood settings, if we want to create knowledge which is valid and takes care of…

Discusses the emergence of institutional research during the last decade and the need for an image for "potentiality of change" in higher education. Specifies steps in beginning and improving institutional research, and points to the crucial problem of developing priorities. The necessity of sustaining institutional support for projects is also…

In a pilot study of about 400 public high school students in Chicago, four innovative approaches are employed to deal with previous research problems arising from the study of juvenile delinquency: specific, proximal measures of social background, multiple indexes of delinquency, anonymous self-reports of delinquency incidence, and parametric…

Communication researchers should respond to the interface of theoretical views and empirical data; that is, they should "take stock" of their theoretical assumptions and ensure that the research they undertake adequately reflects those theoretical assumptions. This essay presents the rationale for stock taking in the communication discipline and…

The problem of spurious significance in multivariate exploratory research is discussed. When a very large number of statistical tests are performed, many tests will be significant on the basis of chance alone. To counter this problem, the use of two sign tests to analyze sets of results has been suggested; the chance expectation [CE test] assesses…