Ethical codes of practice have largely ignored student project work, although there has been some discussion that it ought to be treated as a special case and handled by less stringent ethical review. However, if ethical review is about safeguarding the interests and rights of those who volunteer to participate, then there can be no case for…

If technology can affect student learning, shouldn't it be considered in making decisions? Data-driven decision making models include data from curriculum, instruction, test scores, lunch programs, budgets, and transportation. None of the current models include anything about technology. The challenge with any type of data-driven decision making…

This paper considers the contemporary use of focus groups as a method of data collection within qualitative research settings. The authors draw upon their own experiences of using focus groups in educational and "community" user-group environments in order to provide an overview of recent issues and debates surrounding the deployment of focus…

Twenty years ago, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) issued a request for proposals that resulted in the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH), a unique survey valuable to a wide range of family scholars. This paper describes the efforts of an interdisciplinary group of family demographers to build on…

The Internet and World Wide Web are increasingly used to accelerate progress in a variety of fields. These applications go beyond the traditional technology- or computer-related fields and have expanded to nontechnical fields, which have benefited greatly from the use of the Web as a data-gathering and management support tool. The purpose of this…

Most publications on outcomes assessment take a holistic approach: they focus more on the whole of assessment than on its components. They describe entire academic assessment programs and their cumulative impact on institutional effectiveness. Some evaluation articles characterize assessment components such as instruments, findings, and use of…

In this paper we argue that for the secondary analysis of qualitative data to be effective researchers also need to subject any accompanying interviewer notes to the same secondary analysis process. The secondary analysis of interviewer notes can provide a great deal of insight into the research process and the attitudes, experiences and…

This essay has its origin in a project on the globalization of science that rediscovered the wisdom of past research practices through the technology of the future. The main argument of this essay is that a convergence of digital video technologies with practices of social surveillance portends a methodological shift towards a new variety of…

Sixteen Heads of Anglican and Uniting Church independent schools were asked to describe their experiences of providing leadership to religiosity in their schools. It was found that there was a common but strong ironic tension characterising how each of the affiliated Churches engaged with the religious culture of their schools. The authenticity of…

This study, framed by social constructionism, retrospectively examines how faculty mentoring influenced the transformations of 10 female graduate students' relational selves and their professional identities as qualitative researchers and scholars. Participants reported that effective mentorships often resulted in collaboration on research…

What do people think about school library media centers and the library media program? While it seems like a query to which it would be hard to find the answer, it is important that library media specialists take time to investigate and research this question about the program because it is one of the most important factors to the library media…

The aim of this study was to identify and quantify gaps in health care data for American Indians and Alaska Natives. Findings indicate that only 42% of measures of health care quality and access tracked in the National Healthcare Disparities Report could be used to assess disparities among American Indians and Alaska Natives. Patient safety data…

Increasingly national statistical agencies are being called upon to provide high quality data on a regular basis, to be used by governments for evidence-based policy development. Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) give impetus to this, and bring a prerequisite for comprehensive "poverty diagnosis." Often the data that are required…

This technical report documents the procedures used to collect and summarize data from the 2005 High School Transcript Study (HSTS 2005). The transcript studies serve as a barometer for changes in high school graduates' course-taking patterns; these patterns provide information about the rigor of high school curricula followed across the nation.…

"Partnerships for College Access and Success: A Technical Assistance Guide, Toolkit and Resource Guide" reflects lessons learned from four years of planning, implementation and evaluation work through the Partnerships for College Access and Success (PCAS) initiative. It is the result of the collaboration between AED (Academy for Educational…