In compliance with the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and as part of an effort to evaluate staff development and disability education efforts, the colleges in California's San Diego Community College District undertook focus group evaluations of key campus constituents in fall 1997. At the district's San Diego City College, focus…

This report presents the results of an 18-month research project that studied the effectiveness of youth work with vulnerable young people. The research, representing six distinct geographical areas of Scotland characterized by disadvantage, focused on young people aged 13 to 16. In each neighborhood, the project examined the experiences of young…

This paper reports on a series of studies that examine the multidimensional nature of achievement motivation across a number of cultural groups, the determinants of this achievement motivation, and the relationship of achievement motivation to criteria of school success, such as attendance, retention, achievement, further education, and…

Faculty at Utah State University sought to modify a curriculum for teaching professionals the skills of naturalistic intervention with preschool children with disabilities to make it suitable for primary caregivers, and then to offer the modified curriculum over the Internet to maximize caregiver access. The curriculum development team decided to…

The description of achievement levels is important to the process of reporting student performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). A process was designed to develop achievement level descriptions (ALDs) for writing and civics. To begin, focus groups were conducted in each of the four NAEP regions for both writing and…

The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of the school board/superintendent relationship on academic achievement in one Texas school district that serves high-poverty, majority-minority students. Previous studies identified successful school systems with school boards and superintendents who functioned as a true leadership team.…

Analysis of transcripts of focus group interviews with 32 educators (general, special, administrators, related services, and instructional assistants) in 5 elementary schools identified 8 component areas of expressed training needs concerned with inclusion of students with disabilities. A training framework incorporating these areas was then…

Examined how reading attitudes of Year 6 boys in British primary schools were influenced by gender issues, peers, and peer group culture. Found that confidence and experience shown in private reading was at odds with boys' public attitudes in discussion with peers. Suggests that siblings and adults might provide more positive role models for…

A study used focus groups to allow students, general-dentistry residents, and dental faculty to discuss issues related to learning to use touch in dental treatment. Analysis of group interactions indicated that learning to touch dental patients was often trial-and-error, and uncomfortable for students. A fine line exists between preventing…

Describes and evaluates eight elements of a comprehensive market-research program for commuter colleges: secondary research with formal environmental scanning, local business community-needs assessment; adult community-member telephone survey, classroom survey, new student survey, focus groups, brainstorming sessions, and survey of college…

Reviews empirical studies about how digital libraries evolve for use in scientific and technical work based on the Digital Libraries Initiative (DLI) at the University of Illinois. Discusses how users meet infrastructure and document disaggregation; describes use of the DLI testbed of full text journal articles; and explains research methodology.…

The need for additional support for Indigenous children at school is well documented. Occupational therapists are well positioned to form part of this support. However, many occupational therapists report that Indigenous families do not access their services and when they do, the occupational therapist feels uncertain about how best to meet their…

Introduction: Although research in continuing medical education (CME) demonstrates positive outcomes of on-line CME programs, the effectiveness of and learners' satisfaction with interpersonal interaction in on-line CME are lower. Defined as faculty-learner or learner-learner interpersonal interaction, this study explores physicians' perceptions…

The purpose of this pilot study was to examine early childhood student teachers' perceptions of their confidence and competence in the subject areas of the New Zealand Curriculum Framework (NZCF). The preliminary findings are presented from an analysis of questionnaires, testing and focus group interviews. Study design and methods of collecting…

Few studies have attempted to investigate the nature of adolescents and adults conceptions and perceptions of cannabis use. Our objectives were to explore adolescent and adult perception of use and misuse of cannabis, and their opinions and beliefs about the current legal context and preventive strategies. We used focus group discussions with four…