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Optimal levels of treatment fidelity, a critical moderator of intervention effectiveness, are often difficult to sustain in applied settings. It is unknown whether performance feedback, a widely researched method for increasing educators' treatment fidelity, is an evidence-based practice. The purpose of this review was to evaluate the current research on performance feedback as a strategy to promote the implementation of school-based practices. Studies were evaluated according to What Works Clearinghouse (WWC; Kratochwill et al., 2010) technical guidelines for single-case design, utilizing both the design and evidence standards to determine whether studies provided sufficient evidence for the effectiveness of performance feedback. Results indicate that performance feedback can be termed an evidence-based intervention based on criteria set by the WWC. Implications for future research are described., The recent emphasis on evidence-based practice has affected how school-based personnel deliver academic and behavioral interventions for students in both general and special education. The use of evidence-based practice has [...]

Abstract The methodological quality of nursing education research has not been rigorously studied. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the methodological quality and scientific impact of nursing education [...]

Until recently, international education has existed at the margins of educational research. However, in the current context of globalization, international education has moved closer to the center of educational research throughout the world. In this article, the authors identify, describe, and analyze six distinct research approaches to international education: comparative and international education, internationalization of higher education, international schools, international research on teaching and teacher education, internationalization of K-12 education, and globalization of education. Within each approach, the authors discuss the historical context and the global political, economic, social, and cultural shifts that have shaped the research approach; map the major research trajectories that have developed; discuss the audience and research community; and analyze strengths and weaknesses. The authors conclude with a discussion of emergent trends within research in international education. KEYWORDS: international education/studies, globalization, comparative education.

This article examines the cultural nature of research. This is a consequential idea as research knowledge is expected to inform professional practices for our increasingly multicultural society. We highlight theoretical and methodological limits of the traditional practice of research on cultural groups and outline research as situated cultural practice. This notion challenges researchers to widen the analytic spotlight from a focus on certain groups to shed light on two additional aspects, namely, the sociocultural location of the researcher as a cultural being and member of a scientific field, and the cultural presuppositions in a field's habitual practices. We outline a model of culture that underlies the idea of research as situated cultural practice. We illustrate this notion with quantitative and qualitative research examples and reflect on implications for future research., Researchers have conducted studies on cultural minorities as a means to produce knowledge that can be used to serve the educational and psychological needs of our increasingly multicultural society. Although [...]

Education researchers are being asked to conduct rigorous, scientifically based studies of K-12 curriculum interventions; therefore, the need for measuring fidelity of implementation and empirically relating it to outcomes (the chief rationale for this review) is warranted to ensure internal and external validity. The results of this review indicate that there are too few studies to guide researchers on how fidelity of implementation to core curriculum interventions can be measured and related to outcomes, particularly within efficacy and effectiveness studies, where the requirements for fidelity measures differ. This review attempts to clarify the definition, conceptualization, and measurement of fidelity of implementation and to guide future researchers in understanding how fidelity of implementation can be used to adjust or interpret outcome measures. KEYWORDS: curriculum studies, effectiveness, fidelity of implementation, program evaluation, program integrity.

The article examines teacher's knowledge on children's early reading development and English word structure by reviewing the gaps along with the scientific research and suggestions for improvement is presented.

The article examines the school reforms of research-based practices and co-teaching of special and general educators. The research base is not seen as best practice and there is need for development in co-taught classrooms.

The article explores teachers' learning communities by comparing two vignettes from field notes that show teachers building and sharing effective pedagogical knowledge.

Introduction The researchers have been involved with qualitative research the past few years conducting research projects and also supervising postgraduate students in conducting their research with regard to education. During […]

ABSTRACT: The authors present the findings of a study that explored student perceptions of the residential environmental education (EE) program at the New Jersey School of Conservation. The authors administered [...]

Abstract This article explores different senses of the concept of meaning in educational research, presenting 'meaning' as personal (the researcher's quest for meaning through research), contextual (meaning in relation to [...]

The contemporary education research in the US has not kept pace with other social sciences. The use of the random assignment method for research on schools and its drawbacks are explained with the help of a study where low-achieving high-school students were offered incentives to learn.

Byline: Pat Bazeley (1) Abstract: In order to ensure the future of high qualityresearch in some disciplines it may benecessary to provide special consideration inprestigious research funding schemes for earlycareer researchers who will otherwise becomedisenchanted with academic research and leaveit behind in their search for a stable andfruitful future. Milestones in progressionthrough research studies and academic life toestablishment as an academic researcher areoutlined. Within this context, a range ofpotential criteria for determining promisingearly career status are reviewed. Thediscussion leads to derivation of thedefinition of early career which has beenadopted by the Australian Research Council forits prestigious Discovery -- Projects grantsscheme. Author Affiliation: (1) Research Support P/L, PO Box 2005, Bowral, NSW, 2576, Australia Article History: Registration Date: 11/10/2004

A critical review of research on teaching beliefs and practices of university academics revealed that the espoused theories of action of academics have not been distinguished from their theories-in-use in some studies. It is our contention that research that examines only what university teachers say about their practice and does not directly observe what they do is at risk of telling half the story. Our review revealed several unsupported claims about university academics' teaching practice, raised concerns about data gathering and analysis methods, and found that research on primary and secondary teachers' beliefs has been used infrequently to inform research in tertiary settings. The review identifies implications for understanding university academics' development as teachers and provides direction for further research. KEYWORDS: espoused theories, higher education, teachers' beliefs, teaching practice.

Federal funding and direction routinely lead to research and development breakthroughs in science, medicine, and defense, among other fields. Witness the recent debate over federal funding of stem-cell research, during [...]

Science teachers should wait some time and investigate before judging the findings and recommendations of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). The TIMSS is flawed in several respects and should not significantly affect science education teaching and curricula. For one, the study was based on inconclusive data which invalidates its findings. The data were based on different cultures and educational systems which cannot be treated or grouped as one and the same.

Researches claiming that poor health status is the cause of occupational stress and burnout among teachers are found to be not completely accurate as they were exclusively based on self-report measures and have failed to develop theoretical frameworks. It is suggested that this area of research should employ theory-based investigations that will have test causal models of teacher stress and health with more advanced research designs and measurement strategies.

Three types of validity in qualitative research are discussed. First, descriptive validity refers to the factual accuracy of the account as reported by the qualitative researcher. Second, interpretive validity is obtained to the degree that the participants' viewpoints, thoughts, intentions, and experiences are accurately understood and reported by the qualitative researcher. Third, theoretical validity is obtained to the degree that a theory or theoretical explanation developed from a research study fits the data and is, therefore, credible and defensible. The two types of validity that are typical of quantitative research, internal and external validity, are also discussed for qualitative research. Twelve strategies used to promote research validity in qualitative research are discussed., Discussions of the term 'validity' have traditionally been attached to the quantitative research tradition. Not surprisingly, reactions by qualitative researchers have been mixed regarding whether or not this concept should [...]

Introduction and Context The rise of alternative inquiry paradigms has provoked controversy and discord among scholars. The emergence of critical and interpretive scholarship has caused them to perceive fluctuating 'in' [...]

The use of interviews as a tool to discover children's knowledge of science was found to be a very good way of obtaining information on the effectiveness of teaching methods and understanding the needs of individual children. Four children were interviewed by their teacher and the resulting data was put into three categories which measured the children's answers for consistency, knowledge and precision. The main disadvantage of the system is that the procedure takes too long for the whole class to be interviewed.

Research into the alternative conceptions of the ionic bond in contrast to traditional views was used to discover the willingness of students to learn different concepts. A study of 370 students was based on their understanding of the molecular and the electrostatic frameworks when applied to ionic bonding. Most students retained their initial understanding of the molecular framework even if they had knowledge of the electrostatic framework. It has been suggested that students may be prevented from learning about new concepts if they challenge the ideas they already hold.

Theory structures and constrains the thought process, and the possibility of distortion and misperception remain if the realms in which the educationists work are compacted and forced into theoretical molds. Instead of theory, more ad hocery, thought experiments and diversity are needed in educational research. The concept of theory means different things in education, and the relation of the signifier theoretical to signified is unstable. Both personal and grand theory circumscribe methods of thinking about educational problems and inhibits creativity among researchers and policy makers.

Several studies on class differences in recruitment to higher educational or occupational positions give evidence that class inequality has remained significantly unchanged despite periods of energetic policy reform in Britain. Thus, scholars consider reform policies as inadequate in meeting egalitarian goals. Reforms may have failed due to lack of support from youth of different cultures coming the working class. Egalitarian goals can only be achieved through the implementation of radical policy strategies.

To address the charge that research findings are obvious, this study examined the perceived obviousness of 12 findings of process-product research on teaching. Twelve hundred and fifteen volunteers in Singapore and in the San Francisco Bay Area rated the degree of obviousness of each finding after (a) attempting to select the actual finding from two possible opposite outcomes, (b) reading a single outcome that was either the actual or the direct opposite of the actual finding, or (c) reading a single outcome plus an explanation for the outcome. The selections of actual findings and the ratings of obviousness of actual or opposite-of-actual findings indicated that respondents could not always distinguish the true findings from their opposites. Explanations tended to increase the rated obviousness of the findings. Differences in gender, knowledge about teaching, and cultural background had inconsistent effects on the judgments of obviousness.

The lack of thorough research and statistical exercises on the relation between public school spending and student performance has led to incomplete conclusions which are misleading. The statistics state that public school spending in high-scoring states is less than that in low-scoring states. However, this result is obtained by neglecting the percentage of students taking the Student Aptitude Test (SAT), the influence of poverty and the influence of family structure.

Research on knowledge base for school learning provides results that are inconsistent and irrelevant to educational policy and practice. The methodology used was ineffective, and the use of appropriate procedures would have produced a different set of results. These efforts expose inadequacies in establishing the comparative significance of variables and in coding various information sources.

Although sociologists have identified factors associated with the timing of births, little is known about the consequences of the spacing of births. Several perspectives imply a negative effect of close spacing of siblings on educational attainment, but these perspectives differ in the mechanisms used to explain this effect. We use data from the High School and Beyond survey to investigate the effect of spacing on high school attrition and post-secondary school attendance. Our analysis confirms that close spacing increases the likelihood of dropping out of high school and decreases the odds of attending post-secondary school. The direct effect of close spacing on post-secondary school attendance persists net of ability and academic performance; the effect of spacing on dropping out of high school is mixed. Close spacing of siblings also constraints the allocation of family resources, which in turn affects educational attainment. Alternative explanations of the relationship between sibship structure and educational outcomes are reinterpreted in light of these findings.

This article assesses two theoretical views about which there has been considerable, unresolved speculation: the mutuality versus the competition of research and teaching in academia. Going beyond previous restrictions in aims and methods of analysis, it analyzes the influence of research and teaching interests, time commitments, and orientations of faculty and their perceived environments on the publication productivity of social scientists in BA-, MA-, and Ph.D.-degree granting departments in four fields. Contrary to the mutuality perspective, the findings point to a strain between research and teaching: Those whose publication productivity is high have strong investments in research, but not in teaching. These findings suggest that research and teaching do not represent aspects of a single dimension of academic investments, but are different, conflicting dimensions. The relationships are stronger for faculty in BA- than in Ph.D.-granting departments.

The purpose of this study was to examine the literature in nutrition education research in order to identify changes in the frequency of theory- or model-driven research in the past ten years, as well as to identify the specific theories and models that authors have used. All papers in the Journal of Nutrition Education and abstracts in Dissertation Abstracts that reported any data collection during the years 1980-1990 (n = 346) were read and coded into categories of theory/model use or no use. Studies that utilized theory and/or models were further divided into five subcategories using Gowin's educative commonplaces. These subcategories included teacher, learner, curriculum, governance, and other. Results indicate that three-fourths of the studies do not explicitly use a theory or model to select variables or methods or to interpret the results. This proportion has stayed constant over the decade, even with an increase in the number of studies reported. Most of the theories used are drawn from the psychological literature. Alternative theories are presented. The need for a set of theories is emphasized to better address the issues pertinent to nutrition education research.