A study of Jerusalem schools used three statistical procedures to assess teachers' perceived policy alignment among three organizational levels (teachers, schools, and the Israel Ministry of Education). Results show close connections between teachers' own policies and those they impute to schools but not those imputed to the IMOE. Findings support…

Develops a brief instrument designed to assess several dimensions of racial identity appropriate for African American adults with low literacy skills. Analysis shows the instrument has moderate internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and is appropriate for low literacy skills. It also taps five independent domains: recognition of racism;…

Examines the place of language study in the implementation of the statutory national curriculum in England's schools and studies teacher beliefs about the purpose and content of language study. The article argues that language education has been an area of confusion and that politicians' narrow definitions of language study have masked more…

Presents a case study of how the Oak Park School District (Michigan) used feedback on student achievement in its 16-step strategic planning process to frame reflection and action to improve performance. The quantitative analysis of data grouped in relation to district standards is a unique aspect of their approach. (SLD)

Explores to what extent the germ theory, when it was still a relatively new idea, is evident in the bibliographic records in the "Index-Catalogue of the Library of the Surgeon-General's Office of the United States Army" (Index Cat), the largest medical bibliographical tool ever published. Data suggest that scientists are quick to apply the new…

Describes the methodology and results of the log analysis for the Alcohol Studies Database (ASDB), a domain-specific database supported by the Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University Libraries. The objectives were to better understand user search behavior, to analyze failure rates, and to develop approaches for improving the user…

Reviews dilemmas in using qualitative research methods, drawing on information from research that examined the impact of prior experience on Hong Kong student teachers' learning to teach. The article reviews the research process regarding: credibility of the researcher and rigor of the methods and techniques used. Results highlight the importance…

Ten papers are presented that discuss new developments in school effectiveness research from an international perspective. Three papers discuss factors that determine school effectiveness, and one paper considers the analysis of data. The remainder of the papers report on empirical investigations of school effectiveness. (SLD)

Samples 10 each of primary, secondary and special schools as a means of investigating the development of curricula for children experiencing learning difficulty. Describes the method of qualitative data analysis. Develops a model of the curriculum development process based on the interrelationships of the categories found in the analysis. (KO)

Presents four Physics General Certificate of Secondary Education assessment practicals which can be photocopied for use in instruction. Includes notes for guidance of teachers in determining student skills in management and organization, designing and carrying out experiments to solve problems, draw conclusions, and select suitable apparatus for…

Investigates static and dynamic approaches to agenda-setting research by means of cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of the same data, comparing agenda-setting effects of German television news shows. Finds the static models to be unsatisfactory, while the dynamic model revealed two types of effects: television coverage caused problem…

Inductive analysis of in-depth, open-ended interviews of persisting and nonpersisting Mexican American university students yielded two conceptual schemes, corresponding to pre- and post-matriculation attitudinal and behavioral patterns, for interpreting their perceptions of college-going experiences. (Author/MLW)

Examines data collected from the 1981-82 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Compares various groups of extreme rural males, females, Whites, and Blacks regarding achievement in social studies. Concludes that findings from the study should be used to improve weak areas of social studies curricula and recommends skills that should…

The conflict between immediacy and accuracy in data-gathering and analysis is discussed. The case of the Postsecondary Transcript Sample (PETS) of the National Longitudinal Study is used to illustrate the particulars of this conflict and their resolution on the side of accuracy. (Author/MLW)

How computers are used to analyze item data is reviewed, and the information that existing item-analysis programs provide is described. Summaries of studies comparing the performance of some of these packages reveal some of their current limitations. Emphasis is on the usefulness to educational practice of these packages. (SLD)