Para-professionals Non-credentialed personnel used as teaching assistants in classrooms. Peer Review The process by which research studies are evaluated by a panel of qualified independent experts. The panel reviews the study to assure that the work satisfies the criteria established for publication, presentation, or other appropriate scientific forum. The reviewers are specifically examining for deviations from the standards, errors in research design, mistakes in statistical methods, errors in logic, validity of data, as well as issues with writing style. The reviewers may offer suggestions for improvements or other criticisms to insure the study satisfies the standards required by the reviewers before a recommendation is made approving the study. Performance Management The practice of applying the principles of Behavior Analysis to an organization in order to effectively and efficiently manage personnel to meet the goals of the group, including:
- Performance planning where goals and objectives are established,
- Performance coaching where a manager intervenes to give feedback and adjust performance,
- Performance appraisal where individual performance is formally documented and feedback delivered.
Pitfalls of Statistical Data Analysis There are three broad classes of statistical pitfalls.
- Sources of bias. These are conditions or circumstances that affect the external validity of statistical results.
- Errors in methodology, which can lead to inaccurate or invalid results.
- Interpretation of results, or how statistical results are applied (or misapplied) to real world issues.
Practice A designed sequence of operations or events, which produce an educational outcome. (Examples of practices include: curriculum, teaching methods, behavior management techniques, grading systems, etc.). Precision Teaching Basing educational decisions on changes in continuously monitored performance frequencies displayed on standard "celeration charts". It does not prescribe what should be taught or even how to teach it: "Precision teaching is not so much a method of instruction as it is a precise and systematic method of evaluating instructional tactics and curricula". Pre-Experimental Group Design Pre-experimental designs follow basic experimental protocols with the use of an intervention, pre-test, and post-test. This design lacks the important element of the well-founded experimental design, a control group. Preponderance The greater weight of the evidence that is required to determine in one side or the other's favor. The greater weight of evidence consists of the amount of the evidence as well as the quality of that evidence. In legal terms a preponderance of the evidence, used in most civil cases is contrasted with "beyond a reasonable doubt," which is the more severe test of evidence that is required of a criminal case. The preponderance is not based only upon the amount of evidence, but the evidence that is more influential, evidence that meets standards for rigorous scientific research and evidence that is ranked higher on a scale that values experimental research over other forms of knowledge.
- Quantitative
- Qualitative
- Opinion
Professional Opinion The ideas and thoughts a person has towards an issue, practice, or policy. It is generally an assessment, judgment, or evaluation made by someone who through formal education or experience has knowledge of the subject under investigation or in question. Propaganda A specific type of message presentation, aimed at serving an agenda. Even if the message conveys true information, it may be partisan and fail to paint a complete picture. At its root, the denotation of propaganda is "to propagate (actively spread) a philosophy or point of view". The most common use of the term (historically) is in political contexts; in particular to refer to certain efforts sponsored by governments or political groups. Pseudoscience Any body of knowledge purported to be scientific or supported by science but which is judged by the mainstream scientific community to fail to comply with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is seen as a kind of counterfeit or masquerade of science that makes use of some of the superficial trappings of science but does not involve the substance of science. Qualitative Research In social sciences, "qualitative research" is an umbrella term used to describe various non-quantitative research methods or approaches. For many, if not most researchers (especially in psychology), qualitative methods are simply exploratory methods used chiefly to generate hypotheses for quantitative testing. Generally, qualitative research studies rely on three basic data gathering techniques: participant observation, interview, and document or artifact analysis. Quantitative Research Is the numerical representation and manipulation of observations for the purpose of describing and explaining phenomena. It is used in a wide variety of natural and social sciences, including physics, biology, psychology, sociology and geology. It depends on the collection of statistics, based on real data, observations or questionnaires.
Quantitative research differs from qualitative research in the following ways:
- The data is usually gathered using more structured research instruments
- The results provide less detail on attitudes and motivation
- The results are based on larger sample sizes that are representative of the population,
- The research is designed to be replicated or repeated, giving it high reliability;
- The analysis of the results is more objective.
Quasi-Experimental Group Design (Comparison Group Design) Quasi designs fair better than pre-experimental studies in that they employ a means to compare groups. They fall short, however on one very important aspect of the experiment: randomization. When subjects are chosen for groups based on convenience rather than randomization, the reason for inclusion in the experiment will confuse our ability to assign cause to the results of the study Reliability The degree to which a measurement system yields consistent data under the same conditions. Science A method designed to discover the laws that govern the natural world. The "scientific method" plays a critical role in establishing objective rules that transcend subjectivity and decision making based on opinion. It is a process for acquiring empirical knowledge through the scientific method:
- Asking a question about the relation between two variables
- Systematically measuring the two variables
- Systematically changing one of the variables
- Measuring the resulting changes
- Proposing plausible explanations for the relation between these two variables
Single Subject Design A method for scientifically evaluating the effectiveness of a practice. This technique is effective in measuring changes that occur with a single individual or small group of individuals, but is limited in its ability to generalize the effectiveness of a procedure to groups of individuals. The pre-intervention baseline has been established the independent variable is systematically introduced and removed to evaluate the changes in behavior as a function of the presence or absence of the independent variable. Two of the common single subject designs are withdrawal designs (A-B-A-B designs) or multiple baseline designs Social Influence The practice of arranging social variables to influence a person to behave in a particular way. The techniques are meant to persuade people without the use of coercion. Social Influence plays a critical role in assuring that those educational practices identified as being effective make the transition from research to system-wide implementation in classrooms Student Discipline Student discipline is the set of practices designed to prevent, control, and/or cons equate student misconduct. These include school wide conduct policies and practices as well as techniques designed to effect individual student behavior. Student discipline can include all behavioral expectations, training to produce a specified behavior repertoire, as well as any positive consequences or punishment intended to correct undesirable conduct. Summit An event sponsored by The Wing Institute designed to bring together experts in a specific area of education in order to share and disseminate information to the public at large. The papers and presentations that result from the summit are subsequently made available to educators, parents, and education decision makers either on the organization's website or published and made available through The Wing Institute. Systematic Taking a methodical approach to solving a problem or achieving a result. The method is characterized by order and planning and not haphazard, "a series of orderly actions". Testimonials A testimonial (or endorsement) is a written or spoken statement, from a public figure or a private citizen, extolling the virtue of a product or practice, which is used in promotion or advertisement. A testimonial is primarily a sales tool and should not be considered as reliable in confirming the effectiveness of the product or practice | 
