45 research outputs found
The First Year of College: A Follow-up Normative Report
The major purpose of this ongoing research program is to determine how students are affected by the colleges they attend (Astin, Panos, and Creager, 1966). Consequently, subsamples of the original groups of participating students have been periodically followed up. These follow-up surveys consist in part of post-tests on selected items administered previously in the Freshman Information Form and in part of items that cover the student\u27s experiences and achievements at his institution, his aspirations and plans for the future, his perceptions and evaluations of the college environment, and his educational outcomes and academic standing
National Norms for Entering College FreshmenāFall 1969
This report presents national normative data on the characteristics of students entering colleges as first-time, full-time freshmen in 1969. It is the fourth such annual report developed as part of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program being conducted by the Office of Research of the American Council on Education. The major purpose of this ongoing research program is to determine how students are affected by the colleges they attend (Astin, Panos, and Creager, 1966). As evidenced by the wide response to the earlier normative reports (Astin, Panos, and Creager, 1967a, 1967b; Panos, Astin and Creager, 1967; and Creager, Astin,Boruch, and Bayer, 1968), the information provided has been valuable to those engaged in guidance, counseling, administration, educational research, and manpower studies
Inadequate reporting of research ethics review and informed consent in cluster randomized trials : review of random sample of published trials
Peer reviewedPublisher PD
In Search of \u3cem\u3eTerra Firma\u3c/em\u3e: Administrative Records on Teachersā Positional Instability across Subjects, Grades, and Schools and the Implications for Deploying Randomized Controlled Trials
Reducing HIV Risks Among Active Injection Drug and Crack Users: The Safety Counts Program
The efficacy of Safety Counts, a CDC-diffused intervention, was reanalyzed. In a quasi experimental, cross-over design, injection drug users (IDU) and crack users in two neighborhoods were assigned by neighborhood to receive individual Voluntary HIV Counseling and Testing or Safety Counts and 78% were reassessed at 5ā9Ā months. Drug users in the Safety Counts program reported significantly greater reductions in risky sex, crack and hard drug use, and risky drug injection. The more sessions of Safety Counts attended, the greater were the reductions in risky acts. Different analytic decisions result in very different findings for the same intervention. Safety Counts is an effective intervention for IDU and crack users. Analytic decision of intervention outcomes is highly related to evaluations of an interventionās efficacy
Does clinical equipoise apply to cluster randomized trials in health research?
This article is part of a series of papers examining ethical issues in cluster randomized trials (CRTs) in health research. In the introductory paper in this series, Weijer and colleagues set out six areas of inquiry that must be addressed if the cluster trial is to be set on a firm ethical foundation. This paper addresses the third of the questions posed, namely, does clinical equipoise apply to CRTs in health research? The ethical principle of beneficence is the moral obligation not to harm needlessly and, when possible, to promote the welfare of research subjects. Two related ethical problems have been discussed in the CRT literature. First, are control groups that receive only usual care unduly disadvantaged? Second, when accumulating data suggests the superiority of one intervention in a trial, is there an ethical obligation to act
Learning at the bottom of the pyramid : Science, measurement, and policy in low-income countries
In this volume, a diverse group of authors discuss and analyse the scientific tensions in understanding learning among poor and marginalized populations in Low- and Middle-income countries (LMICs). Four broad areas are considered: how to define the BoP; how to measure and assess learning outcomes across diverse populations within a country; variations in learning across the life-span; and the implications for international education policy. Each of the 12 chapters is complemented by two commentaries, thus there are a total of 36 contributions. In the social sciences, learning is defined most commonly as a change ā
such as in knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values ā based on experiences of some kind.Thus, schooling is not the same thing as learning. While schooling is usually designed to foster curriculum-based learning in
classrooms, research increasingly demonstrates that much of what we presume is learned in school is not, and that a great deal of learning takes place outside of schools. There is a large and diverse empirical research base in the area of human learning. However, much of the available research is limited by constraints of various kinds. Most prominent among these is the limited ability to generalize from findings in one population or context to others. In Chapter 1, Schmelkes considers common elements to human learning, in and out of school, including important cultural variations that are large and often poorly understood. She concludes that much more should be done to improve educational policy and address such contextual issues. A second key priority is to determine what populations are meant by the phrase BoP. How do populations differ in LMICs ā both across and within countries? As pointed out by Montoya in Chapter 2, there are at least six prominent dimensions through which populations at the BoP may be described in low-income countries, and each is important for considering the ways that young people can escape from persistent poverty. Building on the first two chapters, Crouch (Chapter 3) lays out a conceptual model, buttressed by data from international assessments, that describes how to flatten the learning pyramid to ensure more equitable learning outcomes for all by focusing on the poorest learners. Overall, these three chapters provide a framework for considering the nature and extent of BoP studies of learning. There are many critiques of the educational assessment enterprise, the beginning of which is sometimes attributed to the French psychometrician Alfred Binet. In order to support the expansion of public schooling in France, Binet famously created assessments through which he could predict which children would have the most difficulty in school. In this section, we consider contemporary approaches to learning assessments, with a specific focus on the socio-cultural determinants of who succeeds and who does not at the BoP. Kanjee, in Chapter 4, takes a broad perspective by reviewing the purposes of international assessment studies, suggesting that assessments have only limited impact on supporting BoP learning achievement. He concludes that assessments can better address the learning needs of poor and marginalized learners by reporting results through formative evaluations that can impact children before learning gaps widen. In Chapter 5, Willms describes a conceptual model for improved learning over the life-course, empirically supported by research in Uruguay among preschool children, and in Canada with young indigenous children. One of his findings is that in order to succeed in school, children need to learn to read with confidence during the primary grades, and use language to think critically, solve problems, and create new knowledge. He concludes that national and international assessments can serve to establish standards, assess the extent of inequalities among various subpopulations, and provide a framework for basic or theoretical research,
but that there should be greater focus on changing classroom practice. One way to understand the inner workings of assessments and use them to promote learning at the BoP is provided by Vagh and Sharma (Chapter 6) in their action research project in Allahabad, India. This project sought to develop and evaluate a local language literacy and numeracy programme for children from low socioeconomic backgrounds in government school primary grades, using measurement and assessment to drive programme change. It highlights some of the strengths and challenges of localized assessments. Moreover, it suggests that assessments can be used by teachers to support early reading. Finally, in Chapter 7, Maddox asks a seminal question: To what extent are learning assessments able to identify and include individual and cultural differences, without reproducing relations of disadvantage? These issues are described in terms of test fairness and procedures for anticipating and removing sources of test bias. In a series of ethnographic studies, Maddox advises the reader to pay close attention to how assessments are carried out in situ, and how questions are interpreted by the person tested. Serious problems can and will ensue without such care in local contexts. Another approach to BoP issues is through a life-span perspective. How do measurement tools on learning and learning outcomes vary for young children, students in school, as well as among youth and adults? Three chapters in this section consider such age-related differences. Dowd and Pisani, in Chapter 8, have been deeply involved in the field of assessments of young children before they reach school age. Their chapter reviews the application of the International Development and Early Learning Assessment (IDELA) instrument to explore young childrenās skills at the BoP and identify learning gaps in early academic, physical, and social-emotional development. Based on the broad findings from more than 20 LMICs, and closer analysis of particular contexts, the authors make that case that there is much variation in early childhood learning within countries, particularly between urban and rural contexts. They argue that national policies in support of early childhood need to be guided by disaggregated data in order to ensure that children at the BoP receive adequate support. In Chapter 9, Care, Robertson, and Ferido describe how well-designed assessments for school-aged children can provide individualized information that can support school-based learning. These assessments build on the skill levels that children bring to the classroom. Through what they term a ālearning progression modelā, they present data on children in the Philippines who are best able to learn from specifically guided instruction tailored to their particular skill level. They conclude that learning assessments can and should be inclusive of diverse groups within any larger target population. Finally, Oketch (Chapter 10) focuses on youth and adult learning in subSaharan African, pointing out that rapidly changing demographics and economies in the region require significantly greater attention. Further, the population of low-skilled youth is growing dramatically, even though more African children are going to school than ever before. This chapter describes the importance of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and non-formal education as two known methodologies for directly providing instruction and learning outside of the classroom in support of out-of-school youth and adults. The problem remains, according to Oketch, that there is a paucity of research in this domain, and in particular among populations at the BoP. In Chapters 1ā10, authors and commentators present multiple views
on scientific definitions, measurement tools, and life-span approaches for understanding learning at the BoP. This final section of the volume considers the kinds of educational policy implications that need to be considered by both national and international decision-makers. Benavot (Chapter 11) raises a key issue in supporting learning at the BoP, notably the need to move beyond easily accessible measures of learning ā namely, school-based surveys of a narrow range of learning outcomes at the primary and lower secondary level ā and engage with the broader and more comprehensive learning agenda proposed in the SDGs. He points out that many of the UN goals contain diverse elements of learning, and the specific targets for each goal may vary a great deal across diverse populations. Further, he notes that many of the key markers of disadvantage in education (such as socio-economic status, SES) are very difficult to change. He concludes that a serious focus on learning at the BoP will require greater clarity of definitions, and a more deliberate approach to building evidence on how best to improve relevant learning outcomes for the disadvantaged. In Chapter 12, Van Damme provides a global policy perspective supported by the findings of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) international learning assessments. He asserts that international educational policies can only be inclusive and sustainable if those at the bottom of the social and educational pyramid benefit from them. To support this perspective, Van Damme presents findings that demonstrate how higher levels of economic growth are driven by more years of education and greater learning achievement within countries. By disaggregating data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 assessment, he reminds us that students with very low proficiency tend to drive down national averages (similar to the findings by Crouch in Chapter 3). He concludes that countries need to focus on raising average learning outcomes to desired national standards while at the same time narrowing the distribution of national learning outcomes
New directions for program evaluation
Publ. comme no 4, 1978 de la revue New directions for program evaluationBibliogr. Ć la fin des textesIndex: p. 111-11