Related Guides: Curriculum and Lesson Plan Resources > Special Education
Finding articles
To find articles in journals, magazines, or newspapers, you will need to use one of the Library's print indexes or article databases. An index or article database will allow you to look for articles by title, by author, or by a few keywords that describe your topic. The databases most useful for research in education are:
Education Full Text
http://stats.lib.pdx.edu/proxy.php?url=http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/jumpstart.jhtml?prod=EDUFT
Citations and abstracts (and some full text) of articles from ~500 core practitioner and research journals; coverage from 1983- present.
Professional Development Collection
http://stats.lib.pdx.edu/dofd.php?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?authtype=ip,uid&profile=ehost&defaultdb=tfh
A database available through the Oregon state-wide database agreement (i.e. likely to be avaiable in your school or public library if you teach/work in Oregon). Full text of ~400 journals and magazines for educators.
ERIC
The ERIC database provides citations to journal articles and citations (and in many cases links to full text) to thousands of documents related to all aspects of education.
ERIC (Ebscohost platform)
http://stats.lib.pdx.edu/proxy.php?url=http://search.epnet.com/login.asp?profile=education
Dept. of Education interface to ERIC
http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=advanced (freely available; doesn't require authentication)
ERIC Thesaurus
"http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=Thesaurus&_nfls=false
Look up descriptors and explore alternative terms to improve your search results.
How can I get my hands on material I find in ERIC?
Health and Psychosocial Instruments
Citations to articles discussing tests and instruments used in social science research.
PsycINFO
http://stats.lib.pdx.edu/proxy.php?url=http://gateway.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&D=psyh&PAGE=main
Citaions and abstracts for journals, books, book chapters and dissertations in psychology and its subfields.
Social Science Citation Index http://stats.lib.pdx.edu/proxy.php?url=http://isiknowledge.com/wos Keyword topic searching and cited reference searching (which papers have cited a paper of interest after it was originally published) of ~1700 high impact social sciences journals. A subset of the Web of Science, Portand State Library's SSCI online coverage includes journals published from 1992 to the present. For prior years check the print volumes of Social Sciences Citation Index. Tutorial for cited referenc searching in the Web of Science.
Finding books
Search Portland State Library's catalog, Vikat for books, journals (not individual articles), videos, government information, music and other material owned by the Library. You may search by keywords, author, title or subject headings.
Browsing the library shelves by call number is another strategy for locating information on a topic; call numbers can help you get to the "right neighborhood" in the library stacks.
| LA | History of Education |
| LB | Theory and Practice of Education |
| LB 1025 - 1050.7 | Teaching (principles and practices) |
| LB1049.9-1050.75 | Reading (General) |
| LB 1140 - 1140.5 | Preschool education |
| LB 1141 - 1489 | Kindergarten |
| LB 1501 - 1547 | Elementary education |
| LB 1603 - 1695 | Secondary education |
| LB 2300 - 2430 | Higher education |
| LB 2801 - 3095 | School administration and organization |
| LC 65 - 245 | Social Aspects of Education |
| LC 196 | Critical Pedagogy |
| LC 1390 - 5158 | Education of special classes of persons |
| LD | Individual Institutions: United States (e.g. works about or theses done at PSU start with LD 4349) |
Subject headings allow you to search library catalogs for materials on a particular topic. Often subject heading searching can be more productive than searching by simple keywords. Listed here are some major subject headings of interest for research in education. Copies of the complete set of the Library of Congress Subject Headings are available at the 2nd floor Reference Desk.
| Adult Education | Case Method |
| Adult Learning | Multicultural Education |
| Critical Pedagogy | Distance Education |
| Career Education | Communication in Education |
| Early Childhood Education | Education -- aims and objectives |
| Education -- experimental methods | Education -- finance |
| Education -- law and legislation | Education -- philosophy |
| education -- political aspects | popular education |
| education, urban | Feminism and Education |
| General Education | Learning, Psychology of |
School choice | Teachers |
| Subject headings for books about teaching and pedagogy in specific subject areas follow this pattern: specific topic -- study and teaching (educational level) | e.g. language arts -- study and teaching--primary mathematics -- study and teaching--elementary social sciences -- study and teaching --secondary biology--study and teaching--higher |
E-books
NetLibrary Teaching Collection - a collection of ebooks of interest for classroom teachers available from PSU Library.
Encyclopedias, subject-specific dictionaries and other reference book provide excellent background/overview information on a topic; they can be an excellent place to begin research.
American Educators Encyclopedia
LB15 .D37 1991 | 2nd floor
Dictionary of Multicultural Education
LC1099 .D53 1997 | 2nd Floor
Educator's Desk Reference (EDR) : a Sourcebook of Educational Information and Research
LB1028.27.U6 F74 2002 | 2nd Floor
Education And Sociology: An Encyclopedia
LC189.95 .E38 2002 | 2nd Floor
Encyclopedia of Education v. 1-8
LB15 .E47 2003 | 2nd Floor
also available online
Encyclopedia of Educational Research v. 1-4
LB15 .E48 1992 |
Encyclopedia of Special Education v. 1-3
LC4007 .E53 2000 | 2nd Floor
Higher Education In The United States: An Encyclopedia
LA225 .H54 2002 | 2nd Floor
Knowledge Base for the Beginning Teacher
LB 1025.2 .K615 | @nd Floor location
Women In Higher Education: An Encyclopedia
LC1567 .W6486 2002 | 2nd Floor location
World Education Encyclopedia: A Survey Of Educational Systems Worldwide v. 1-3
LB15 .W87 2002 | Floor location
Content Knowledge: a Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K12 Education 3d.
LB3060.83 .K46 2000 | 2nd Floor
Journals and Newspapers
The collections listed below are by no means a comprehensive lsiting of Portland State Library's journal holdings of interest in education; if you are looking for a specific journal title, be sure to check in Vikat.
Online Education journals in Portland State's collection
Online Social Science Journals in Portland State's collection
AERA Communication of Research SIG list of online research journals
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe
Provides a variety of full text sources including local, regional, national and international newspapers. Includes the New York Times and the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Cabell's directory of publishing opportunities in educational curriculum and methods
Z286.E3 C322 | 2nd Floor; Reference shelves
Comprehensive directory of journals published in all areas of education and curriculum; subject indexes; publisher information; directions to authors; acceptance rates.
Cabell's directory of publishing opportunities in educational psychology and administration.
Z286.E3 C323| 2nd Floor; Reference shelves
Comprehensive directory of journals published in all areas of educational psychology and administration; subject indexes; publisher information; directions to authors; acceptance rates.
Finding people and organizations
College Blue Book v. 1-6
LA226 .C685 | 2nd Floor
Directory of State Education Agencies
http://bcol02.ed.gov/Programs/EROD/org_list.cfm?category_ID=SEA
Locate the state departments of education and other agencies quickly.
Education Resource Organizations Directory
http://bcol02.ed.gov/Programs/EROD/index.cfm
Searchable database of thousands of education-related organizations.
Handbook of Private Schools
L901 .H3 | 2nd Floor
ISS Directory of Overseas Schools
L900 .I2 | 2nd Floor
NCATE Constituent Organizations
http://www.ncate.org/public/MemberOrganization.asp?ch=3
Provides listing professional education organizations which participate in the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) accreditation.
Oregon Education Association
http://www.oregoned.org/
Oregon School Directory http://www.ode.state.or.us/pubs/directory/index.htm
http://www.ode.state.or.us/pubs/directory/index.htm
A directory of Oregon schools, districts, cities and counties. Includes listings of state, district and school personnel
Patterson's American Education
L901 .P3 | 2nd Floor
Patterson's Elementary Education
L 901 .P33 | 2nd Floor
Peterson's Directory of College & University Administrators
L 901 .P465 | 2nd Floor
Yahoo's Directory of Colleges and Universities
http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/Higher_Education/Colleges_and_Universities/
Quickly find the web sites of colleges and universities in the U.S.
Yahoo's Directory of K12 Education
http://dir.yahoo.com/Education/K_12/By_Region/
Find the web sites of schools and districts through out the U.S.
Related information/read more about it
Dissertation Abstracts
Abstracts to Ph. D. dissertations from most U.S. universities and some foreign institutions. Citations to masters theses from selected U.S. universities. Full text of PSU disserations from 1997 - present.
Educators Reference Desk
http://www.eduref.org/
An education research portal linking to materials developed under the former AskERIC service. Links to free version of ERIC database as well as lesson plan sites and resource guides.
ERIC Digests
http://www.ericdigests.org/
Short reports (1,000 - 1,500 words) on topics of prime current interest in education. Targeted specifically for teachers, administrators, policymakers, and other practitioners, but generally useful to the broad educational community. Designed to provide an overview of information on a given topic, plus references to items providing more detailed information.
Oregon Public Education Network
http://www.openc.k12.or.us/
Searchable database of Oregon Content Standards, Benchmarks and Assessments.
U.S. Department of Education Web Site
http://www.ed.gov
Oregon Department of Education Web Site
http://www.ode.state.or.us/
Mental Measurements Yearbook
Information on commercially published tests and instruments; includes full text of research reviews of tests.
Data sets and statistics
Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac
LB 2300 .C4 | 2n Floor location
A special annual issue providing a compilation of basic statistics about U.S. higher education at national and state levels.
Condition of Education (web site - combines multi-year analyses)
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/
PDF files of the annual reports 1990 - present
"This annual compendium report to Congress describes the current status and recent progress of education in the U.S. The Condition of Education is an indicator report, analyzing key data that measure the health of education, monitor important developments, and show trends in major aspects of education."
Digest of Educational Statistics
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/
"The Digest of Education Statistics provides a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of education from prekindergarten through graduate school. Topics in the Digest include: the number of schools and colleges; teachers; enrollments; graduates; educational attainment; finances; federal funds for education; employment and income of graduates; libraries; technology; and international comparisons."
National Center for Education Statistics
http://nces.ed.gov
Portal to vast array of education statistics and data sets compiled by the U.S. Department of Education.
National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP)
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/about/
"The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as "the Nation's Report Card," is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what America's students know and can do in various subject areas. Since 1969, assessments have been conducted periodically in reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S. history, civics, geography, and the arts."
Oregon Department of Education Reports and Statistics
http://www.ode.state.or.us/
Use left hand column menu "Reports, Data and Statistics" link to find various statistics for K12 public schools in Oregon.
Oregon University System Factbook
http://www.ous.edu/factreport/factbook/
Student, faculty, degrees, enrollment, financial data gathered by the Oregon University System for its member campuses.
Projections of Education Statistics
http://nces.ed.gov/programs/projections/
"Projections for key education statistics, including the report on enrollment; graduates; classroom teachers; and expenditures in elementary schools, secondary schools and degree-granting institutions. In addition, the report includes a methodology section that describes models and assumptions used to develop national and state-level projections."
Citing your sources & Style manuals
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 5th ed
BF76.7 .P83 2001 | 2nd Floor
Citation Styles Handbook: APA
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/cws/wworkshop/writer_resources/citation_styles/apa/apa.htm
Quick reference guide on APA style devloped by the UIUC writing workshop.
Using APA Format -- Purdue University Online Writing Lab
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_apa.html
APA Exposed
http://gseacademic.harvard.edu/~instruct/articulate/APA/player.html
A multi-media tutorial developed by a Harvard Graduate School of Education doctoral student covering APA in depth.
Finding topics
Resources that identify topics (e.g. trends journals; annual reviews)
Annual Reviews of Social Sciences
Education Week online
http://www.edweek.org
Weekly education newspaper.
Educational Leadership
http://www.ascd.org/portal/site/ascd/menuitem.459dee008f99653fb85516f762108a0c/
Published by the Association for Curriculum and Develoment, a monthly magazine covering new and emerging topics in education.
Also available in full text online (from 1974 - present) through the Ebscohost subscription.
Review of Educational Research
in print: L11 .R35 | 3rd Floor
(RER) publishes critical, integrative reviews of research literature bearing on education.
TC Record
http://www.tcrecord.org/
Online site produced by the Teachers College Record, provides feature articles, commentary, book reviews and topical channels for current information and research in all aspects of education.
Research help
Handbook of reading research 3 v.
LB1050 .H278 1984 | 2nd Floor
Handbook of research on curriculum
LB1570 .H264 1992 | 2nd Floor
Handbook of research on educational administration
LB2805 .H2864 1999 | 3rd Floor
Handbook of research on mathematics teaching and learning
QA11 .H26 1992 | 5th Floor
Handbook of research on multicultural education
LC1099.3 .H35 1995 | 2nd Floor
Handbook of research on music teaching and learning
MT1 .H138 1992 | 2nd Floor location
Handbook of research on science teaching and learning
Q181 .A1 H35 1994 | 5th Floor
Handbook of research on social studies teaching and learning
LB1584 .H275 1991 | 2nd Floor
Handbook of research on teacher education
LB1715 .H274 1996 | 2nd Floor
Handbook of research on teaching the English language arts
LB1576 .H234 2003 | 2nd Floor
Research in teaching and learning v. 1-4
LB1028.25 .U6 R47 1990 | 3rd Floor
The International encyclopedia of educational evaluation
LB2822.75 .I57 1990 | 2nd Floor