When Law-Related Education is a Deterrent to Delinquency: Evaluation Methods and Findings and Addendum: A Preliminary Response to James P. Shaver's Paper, "The Law-Related Education Evaluation Project: A Methodological Critique of the 'Impacts on Students' Findings."

Autor/in	Johnson, Grant
Institution	Center for Action Research, Inc., Boulder, CO.
Titel	When Law-Related Education is a Deterrent to Delinquency: Evaluation Methods and Findings and Addendum: A Preliminary Response to James P. Shaver's Paper, "The Law-Related Education Evaluation Project: A Methodological Critique of the 'Impacts on Students' Findings."
Quelle	(1984), (20 Seiten)Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Delinquency; Educational Assessment; Educational Research; Followup Studies; Legal Education; Outcomes of Education; Program Effectiveness; Reliability; Research Design; Research Methodology; Research Problems; Secondary Education; Student Behavior; Validity + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Kriminalität; Education; assessment; Bewertungssystem; Bildungsforschung; Pädagogische Forschung; Follow-up studies; Kontaktstudium; Lernleistung; Schulerfolg; Reliabilität; Forschungsdesign; Research method; Forschungsmethode; Forschungskritik; Sekundarbereich; Student behaviour; Schülerverhalten; Gültigkeit
Abstract	The methodology and findings of the Law-Related Education Project's research reports which evaluated the effects on secondary students of law-related education (LRE), are discussed. A response to James P. Shaver's negative critique of the Law-Related Education Project's research studies also is provided. A detailed account of the research results obtained from one site--Bill Reed Junior High School (Loveland, Colorado)--that demonstrated significant favorable LRE impact is included. Through student questionnaires, the original study compared the delinquency behavior of ninth-graders enrolled in LRE classes with the behavior of students enrolled in civics classes. To determine long-term effects of LRE, a follow-up study was also conducted. The general summation of findings was that when properly implemented, LRE can serve as a deterrent to delinquent behavior. Effective LRE instruction must consist of certain features and teaching methods; not all LRE classes deter delinquent behavior. Shaver's critique does not give cause to revise any conclusions regarding the research. A defensible critique must present accurately the research that it examines. Shaver's did not; the conclusions in his review rely on very selective choices of data. With respect to the appropriateness of relying on student self-reports in measuring delinquency, many studies have demonstrated that self-reports are valid and reliable. Completely ignored by the critique was the fact that the test of the theory of delinquency causation yielded overwhelmingly supportive findings. (RM)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC