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Nine conference papers focus on objectives, methods, and alternatives in the education of handicapped children. The first paper, by Sidney P. Marland, U. S. Commissioner of Education, reports on progress made towards full educational opportunity for handicapped children. Research design and methodology are discussed in relation to curriculum research past and present, a five-category research framework, and design of a curricular research methodology. Other papers concern the special education resource room, a model preschool for handicapped children and the behavior modification model, competency based education, the usefulness of instructional materials, inservice teacher education to improve services to mildly handicapped children in the regular classroom, the effects of isolated study on academic performance, and an exhibition of art by the handicapped. (KW)

This paper comments on Gagne's classification scheme with respect to learning outcomes, and offers a research design appropriate for instructional research studies. It challenges certain assumptions concerning correspondence between subject matter and categories, and asserts that the logic of experimental analysis should be applied to instructional research. The paper stresses the importance of systematic analysis of test stimuli in relation to instructional stimuli, in order to distinguish between learning and retention or transfer of training. (Author)

The papers in this document represent statements prepared by scholars involved in various stages of 4 multi-state regional research projects on rural community services and presented at a 1971 national workshop on research problems in delivery of community services. The 2 major foci of these papers are (1) problems of measurement and assessment of adequacy of community services and (2) organization of service delivery systems. The 8 papers included are Problems of Measurement and Assessment of the Adequacy of Community Services: A Naive Viewpoint; Adequacy of Community Services: A Measurement Problem; Theoretical Concerns in the Measurement of Adequacy of Community Services and How to Assess Them in the Rural Areas; Rural Development and the Quality of Life in the Rural South: Concepts and Indicators in the S-79 Regional Project; Some Methodological Considerations for Rural Community Services Research; Organization of Public Service Delivery Systems for Rural Areas; Some Relevant Concerns and Issues in Research on Personal Health Delivery Systems with Special Emphasis on Nonmetropolitan Areas; and, Housing Quality: Measurement and Assessment. (PS)

A detailed analysis of the objectives of education and the practices of schooling leads to the suggestion that neither are being achieved. Proposed is a revised statement of the goal of education: Education is to assist the student to be adaptive with respect to extra-school tasks. The following educational objectives seem relevant to realizing this goal: To promote the student's acquisition of: (1) a repertory of skills for accurately locating and efficiently learning new information and new skills; (2) a repertory of skills for solving problems; and (3) motivational systems that will incline him to engage in learning and problem solving on a continuing basis. One obligation is to determine the character of the skills needed, the optimal timing for instruction in these skills, and the optimal methods of instruction. The major portion of this paper is concerned with examination of this obligation. Included are a description of selected prerequisite skills, accounts of what is known about the emergence of such skills depending on characteristics of the student, information on what is known about instruction designed to promote the emergence of the skills, and notes on what is not known about these skills. (NH)

Longitudinal studies to clarify and validate objectives and standards of preschool education are advocated. Until the result of such research is available, studies of methods and processes have little practical or theoretical use. Preschool goals generally agreed upon by American educators are the promotion of the child's emotional and social development, and the improvement of mental processes and skills. Current strategies for further defining these goals include: (1) "bag of virtues" approach, which advocates that the child acquire self confidence, spontaneity, curiosity, self-discipline, and specific aptitudes and skills; (2) the class comparison strategy, which assumes a middle class superiority in attitudes, goals, and general life style; (3) the industrial psychology strategy, which says that in order to make it in the system, children must meet certain standards of language and skills, even though they are not termed "deprived" in terms of their own culture. In contrast, the cognitive-developmental approach, which is exemplified by Piagetian stage theory, is favored and is used in this paper to arrive at a strategy for the definition of education objectives. The child and his development, the use of longitudinal data, and some recent research demonstrating relationships between Piagetian stages of cognition and ego stages are also discussed. (NH)

PROJECT CONCERN SEEKS TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THE LOWER ACHIEVEMENT OF DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS IS AN "ARTIFACT" OF A NEGATIVE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE SLUM NEIGHBORHOOD AND THE SLUM SCHOOL. TO COUNTERACT THIS EFFECT, THE PROJECT HAS BUSED OVER 250 INNER CITY MINORITY GROUP CHILDREN, FROM KINDERGARTEN THROUGH FIFTH GRADE, TO FIVE MIDDLE CLASS SUBURBAN SCHOOL SYSTEMS ON THE PERIPHERY OF HARTFORD. ONE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP (E-GROUP) OF 213 CHILDREN RECEIVES SUPPORTIVE SERVICES INVOLVING REMEDIAL ASSISTANCE, SCHOOL-HOME LIAISON, AND POSITIVE ADULT IDENTIFICATION FIGURES. THE REMAINING 42 PUPILS, THE OTHER E-GROUP, ARE BEING EXPOSED TO A SUBURBAN SCHOOL PLACEMENT WITHOUT SUPPORTIVE SERVICES. DATA WILL BE COLLECTED ON CRITERION VARIABLES RELATED TO SCHOOL PERFORMANCE AND ON SUCH OTHER DIMENSIONS AS PUPIL ATTITUDE AND MOTIVATION, FAMILY PARTICIPATION, AND CLASSROOM CLIMATE. THE TWO E-GROUPS WILL BE COMPARED WITH GROUPS OF INNER CITY SCHOOL CHILDREN WHO HAVE OR HAVE NOT RECEIVED SUPPORTIVE ASSISTANCE. IT IS FELT THAT THE TREND TOWARD CUMULATIVE DEFICIT SHOWN BY DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN MIGHT BE REVERSED BY CREATING A "DISSONANCE" WITHIN THE STUDENT'S SELF-PERCEPTIONS WHICH WOULD PERMIT THE REINFORCEMENT OF POSITIVE BEHAVIORS AND ATTITUDES. THE SUBURBAN PEER GROUP WILL PRESENT AN EMULATIVE MODEL, WHICH, ALONG WITH THE SUPPORT OF AN INDIGENOUS ADULT IDENTIFICATION FIGURE, WILL HELP TO BRING ABOUT A POSITIVE CHANGE IN THE SELF-PERCEPTIONS OF THE DISADVANTAGED PUPILS. THE URBAN-SUBURBAN COOPERATION THAT THIS PROJECT REQUIRED IS FINANCIALLY AND OTHERWISE FEASIBLE FOR CITIES FRINGED BY MIDDLE CLASS SUBURBS. THIS PAPER WAS DELIVERED AT THE CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION AND RACIAL IMBALANCE IN THE CITY (HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, MARCH 2-3, 1967). (NH)

Several studies have been done about Mexican Americans but, in the area of their mental health, "a scant dozen articles are worth reviewing." Since the literature has been consistent in reflecting that a low socioeconomic level combined with extensive use of Spanish lowers IQ test scores of Mexican Americans, these factors should be studied in connection with the educational achievement of Mexican Americans and their mental health (i.e., in terms of such personality types as obsessive-compulsive, impulsive, schizophrenic, passive-dependent, and depressive). This could be done because Mexican Americans are highly distinguishable from other ethnic groups and are set apart by such factors as low median family income, speaking Spanish as a first language, a behavior and value system reflecting another culture, and a tendency to live in barrios. In such a study, 8 hypotheses are proposed for testing on a random sample of large numbers of Mexican Americans from all socioeconomic levels and ages, from every state in the Southwest, from rural and urban settings, from the Chicano militant element, from colleges, and from the Hispano component. The actual survey should be done by special questionnaire and a short adapted form of standard personality tests with some in Spanish. Examiners should be Mexican Americans highly trained in psychiatric interviewing procedures. In summary, this investigation should be a broad-based study on the mental health and educational achievement of Mexican Americans. (NQ)

An interdisciplinary research study is suggested following a review of the more significant studies that have been attempted to explain the degree of educational retardation of the Mexican American as related to such factors as life stresses (e.g., economic deprivation) and learning styles. This study would be a combination of survey research (testing scores, percentages, etc. of students at given grades) and research for hypothesis testing wherein a random sample of the total Mexican American population would be used. It is noted that such a study would provide large quantities of data on sociologic, family, education, cognitive, and personality functioning and would assess the co-variation and influence of each of these variables on each of the other variables. (NQ)

A survey of the evidence shows that some degrees of malnutrition is relatively widespread among poor children. However, the effects of inadequate nutrition on growth and mental development depend to a large extent on the severity, the timing (pre and postnatal), and the duration of the nutritional deprivation. The data are inadequate on the true prevalence of malnutrition among children in this country, but there is even less information about its onset or about its severity and quality. The absence of such knowledge reflects not the absence of the problem, but the lack of attention devoted to it. There is strong indication that nutritional factors at a number of different levels contribute significantly to depressed intellectual level and learning failure. Moreover, an adequate state of nutrition is necessary for good attention and for appropriate and sensitive responsiveness to the environment. Further, women who were malnourished as children are more likely to have disturbed pregnancies and children of low birth weight and increased risk of neurointegrative abnormality. It must be recognized, however, that improvement of nutrition alone cannot fully solve the problem of intellectual deficit and school failure. Rather, an overall effort to improve the condition of disadvantaged children is required. (Author/NH)

An overview is given of conditions linked to the causes and perpetuation of poverty. These factors include large family size, unemployment, lack of education, and social and personal disorganization. Family planning services are important but by themselves tend to be ineffective and programs should be launched which would improve the total life situation of the poor. Research-based evidence is presented regarding various anti-poverty programs, including parent education, individual counseling, job training, and use of paraprofessionals. An examination of "participation of the poor" in decision making capacities in programs which affect them is included. Multi-pronged intervention in respect to changing the secondary and tertiary systems of the poverty environment (housing, employment opportunities, health, welfare, legal, educational and vocational services) is recommended. Such an approach calls for multi-variate program research, for which a proposal is presented. (Author/NH)

As a plausible explanation of Negro academic underachievement, culture conflict has been ignored by educators and social scientists to a degree not indicated by the wide range of evidence which points to its importance as a contributing factor. Reasons suggested for this theoretical imbalance can be summarized by saying that it has been controversial to use a cultural-difference model in dealing with American Negroes, and it is likely to remain so in the future. This poses a dilemma for those who want to help Negro children achieve satisfactorily in school. If cultural differences between Negroes and whites account at least in part for their different school performance, it is unlikely that efforts to raise the level of Negro academic achievement will be successful as long as cultural factors are ignored. For awhile, however, most social scientists will probably prefer to stay within the bounds of environmentalism in their search for the causes of Negro academic underachievement. The social penalties for failing with an environmental-difference model are still less severe than those which accompany success with a genetic-difference or cultural-difference model. (Author/NH)

Suggested is a learning systems approach designed to be consistent with the objectives and scope of developmental psychology and yet sophisticated and appropriate enough to fit the unique demands of early childhood education. Identified are eight contingencies for learning that any educational system must possess. Added to these are features considered distinctive to learning environments for preschool children. Among these features are the family as a learning system, a systems perspective, a psycho-social theory of classroom learning, the philosophic position, criteria and specifications, the operational stage, evaluating and measuring learning systems, an educational research superstructure, and the educational research testing system. Eight figures specify designs and relationships important in conceptualizing and operationalizing this approach. (WY)

Since the inception of the Arizona-Mesa Differentiated Staffing Project in June 1970, the project staff was charged with the responsibility of evaluating the effects of the changes brought about as a result of implementation in three pilot schools. It was found that experimental-design research in an ongoing social system was extremely difficult because of inability to control internal and external variables. After reviewing various methods used to evaluate social innovations, the staff decided on a combination of the case-study technique advocated by Weiss and Rein and the quasi-experimental design advocated by Campbell. Factors jeopardizing internal and external validity were identified and tentative research designs were outlined for five questions. The questions involved comparing project and non-project schools in relation to student achievement, school climate, staff attitudes, teacher ability to perform tasks specified in the original proposal, and degree of actual staff differentiation. Each research design specifies a hypothesis, data-gathering instruments, dependent and independent variables, and statistical treatment. (RT)

In order to make policy decisions, educators must evaluate educational research proposals and projects. Findings immediately related to practice are often inadequate, omitting the theoretical establishment of principles by which we can explain and predict the phenomena of our world. These theoretical linkages to the practical world of decision-making occur more frequently as researchers form more innovative hypotheses and design both innovative and rigorous investigative procedures. A research report should present a clear statement of what was studied, the method used in studying it; specification of how the data were analyzed, the results of the study, and conclusions and interpretations. The research evaluator must seek a logical presentation of the problem, since this will partially determine the researcher's ability to develop adequate methodology. The hypothesis must be defined, the sample chosen carefully for stated reasons, the design determined to be valid, and the dependent and independent variables defined and measured. Each study is only a single block in the construction of a theory applicable to educational policy making. No study is without flaws or takes into account all the variables of today's world. Knowledge of research evaluation, therefore, is essential. (MM)

Three critical issues in the design and analysis of evaluation studies suggested at the conference are (1) the univariate versus multivariate dependent variable studies, (2) the choice of a response surface design over the conventional fixed model, and (3) the tendency to interpret every study as if it were being done for the first time. Taking into account prior information is a step that would most improve the design and analysis of evaluation studies. Related documents are EA 002 409 and EA 002 535. (MLF)

The major task of the methodology in evaluation is the development of new ways of helping the content specialist construct and evaluate educational products. Data collection and analysis--paying attention to both the unit of study and the distributions of scores in tests, as well as the mean--are important. Reexamining the nature of items used in evaluation studies and examining new indices are key features of evaluation. Item sampling and the questions of context effect and optimal use are also discussed. Related documents are EA 002 408 and EA 002 535. (MLF)

The role of the instructional materials center in evaluating materials is asserted and evaluation is defined as a media of compiling and analyzing information. Four evaluative methods are explained: field testing and comparing results; assessing rationale; measuring attitudinal and motivational variables; and describing the material and its use. A model for evaluation is presented; its six phases include decision making, identification and prescription, gathering information on predominant variables, posttests and compiling information, analysis (or evaluation) of information, and dissemination. Samples of models used in the field are appended. (JD)

Like all good social research methods, the interview demands careful planning and intelligent administration. The study director formulates the goals of the study, which serve as the basis for the interview schedule or instrument. The interview schedule decided upon may be standardized or unstandardized. Questions may be closed-ended or open-ended. In the field, the interviewer has four major tasks: (1) selecting or locating the respondent, (2) establishing rapport with him, (3) asking the questions in the schedule, and (4) recording the answers. Errors in interview results may be the respondent himself, by a poor relationship between the interviewer and the respondent, and by the intrviewer. Despite possible pitfalls, the interview offers many advantages to people who want to know what other people have to say. (MF)

A large number of correlational models for cross-tabular analysis are available for utilization by social scientists for data description. Criteria for selection (such as levels of measurement and proportional reduction in error) do not lead to conclusive model choice. Moreover, such criteria may be irrelevant. More pertinent criteria are operational characteristics of a model. Operational criteria examined in this research include sensitivity to changes in population convariance; and insensitivity to sample size, table dimensions, and variable distributional characteristics. A complete facit or factorial design of 384 elements is generated to include cross-slassification conditions of typical social science utilization. A Monte Carlo computer program is then utilized to generate a cross-tabulation table as specified by the parameters of each of its design elements. Twenty-five correlational models are then applied to each of the tables. Because the tables are generated by design and their characteristics known, a priori, changes in the value of a given correlation coefficient can be explained. Analysis over all the facits lends to a description of the operational characteristics of each of the models. Finally, a factorial analysis leads to a reduction of the 25 models into four types of correlational models. (Author)

Response to article PS 502 099. (MB)

SummarySimultaneous use of paper electrophoresis and radioactive Vit. B12 permits separation and quantitation of the various B12 binding components present in commercial intrinsic factor concentrates of hog origin. The amount of one particular binder has been found to correlate with the clinical activity of the concentrates as measured by the urinary excretion method of Schilling. This provides the basis for a simple in vitro assay of potency of hog intrinsic factor concentrates ranging in level of activity from 2.0 mg to 75.0 mg. It is predicted that pure hog intrinsic factor will be active clinically at a level of 0.1 mg; calculations suggest that it will bind 23 μg B12/mg and have a molecular weight of 60,000.