The selections in this collection pertain to the predicaments faced by the biographer who must discover what he believes is the truth and then use this material to create a work of compelling interest. Arnold L. Fein, J. H. Plumb, and Hesketh Pearson present observations on the biographer's dilemma: the difficulty of determining the borderline…

These abridged proceedings of the conference on "Languages for Special Purposes" define and clarify organizational and linguistic difficulties arising in the provision of "service" courses in England and encourage coordination of existing research and development. Four major areas are presented: (1) D.C. Kiddy and W. Grauberg…

A description of the development of the print materials to improve the ability of learners to appraise critically educational research is provided in this report. The completed materials consist of the following: an introductory statement about the nature of criticism, a statement about the contents of the materials and suggestions for use, and…

Teacher and administrator feedback about a study on computer-assisted instruction (CAI) is described in this report. The hypotheses, methodology, and conclusions of the overall program are briefly discussed as they pertain to the feedback aspect. (The CAI program dealt with the effects of choice situations upon the students' engagement in…

The relative efficiency of various manpower programs as seen through cost-benefit analysis is assessed, and the contribution that cost-benefit analysis has made in evaluating manpower programs is discussed, taking into account a variety of methodologies presented in different studies. Vocational rehabilitation appears to yield the highest…

This monograph discusses a recently documented finding which suggests that children in about the 6 to 11 year old bracket may be more vulnerable to crises in their environment than either younger children or older adults. A prerequisite for remedial policies is a sound theoretical understanding of the problem; although this understanding is seen…

Federal assistance for special educational programs makes necessary the regular study of evaluations of thousands of innovations in compensatory education, bilingual education, and reading programs. The results are reported to the President and to Congress. However, investigating organizations find only a few programs with adequate evidence and…

Volume 4 of an annual series, this issue focuses chiefly on a variety of perspectives relating to cross-cultural research. The major article is comprised of 15 topics encompassing cognitive and affective aspects of culture contact, language and communication, and culture exchange. The topics address Japanese perceptions of foreigners, learning of…

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that conflict, change, and deviance in school board behavior can be effectively studied and examined within generalized models of culture. In the first section, problems in studying educational cultures are identified and the biased views of educational anthropologists are discussed. Section II presents…

Before presenting an analysis of vocational research and development during the last decade, an overview is given of educational research and development in general and its relationship to society and societal changes. The author's ideas are offered from different perspectives: As an educational administrator, a federal program administrator, a…

The word "underclass" has become popular, but it is nebulously defined. The focus of discussions on the underclass is not on economics but behavior. The poor are scapegoats for drug problems and the crime rate. The concept of "underclass" ignores the conflict between the dynamic of tokenism and the reality of capitalism. (BJV)

Instructional leadership for principals is not a panacea for the ills of education. Efforts to alter principal practices to meet this poorly defined and poorly researched construct reflect a lack of self-reference in the educational field. More study and thought are needed before plans of action are imposed. (BJV)

This review of research on computer use in education focuses on the development of higher order thinking skills and the effects of programming instruction. Eight hypotheses are proposed to account for the general failure of the research to confirm the expectations, and a new programming language, Prolog, is described. (70 references) (Author/LRW)

In this overview of his research in personality theory, Cattell describes the play of people, situations, and, ideas enacted over 30 years in his University of Illinois laboratory. Establishing meaningful empirical measurement methods was the foundation for further research into many aspects of personality development. (BS)

Meta analysis results were compared with a traditional review of bilingual education program effectiveness. When controlled for methodological inadequacies, participation in bilingual education programs consistently produced differences favoring bilingual education. The methodological inadequacies in the synthesized studies highlights the need for…