In educational contexts where many domains subject to improvement are interdependent and causal evidence is frequently lacking it is difficult, if not impossible, for policymakers and educational practitioners to decide which domain should be invested in. This paper proposes a new method that uses Conditional Mean Independent Correlations (CMIC)…

The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) and the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) embarked on a yearlong effort to identify and examine ways to make financial aid research more relevant to financial aid practitioners. To inform their recommendations, they surveyed NASFAA members, reviewed the…

At a time when scientific and technological competence is vital to the nation's future, the weak performance of U.S. students in science reflects the uneven quality of current science education. Although young children come to school with innate curiosity and intuitive ideas about the world around them, science classes rarely tap this potential.…

This article examines the growth of practitioner research in England through the creation of the Learning and Skills Research Network (LSRN) and identifies its effect on subsequent developments in what is generally known as the Lifelong Learning Sector (LLS). It offers an analysis of this development as a case study in developing practitioner…

In this paper, we examine the current state of educational research through the framework of "use-inspired" knowledge. Previous discussions regarding the nature of educational research have disproportionately focused on the soft/applied nature of knowledge in the discipline or a need for methodological priority. After acknowledging these…

In this book, leading scholars in the field examine the available research on the use of evidence in education and provide suggestions for strengthening the research-to-practice pipeline. Critics within and outside the field of education often point out the absence of a strong reciprocal connection between research and practice. The emergence of…

The San Diego City Schools Research Cooperative is an attempt to integrate the work of practitioners, researchers, and community members to meet the individual needs of each group while providing programmatic, practical research findings to district officials. This paper discusses issues pertaining to the development of a research cooperative: the…

We are entering a new phase in learning about childhood disabilities. While we have found out much of what we need to know about their causes and aetiology, solutions to many of the challenges we will face in the future will come from the evidence base held by practitioners. Practitioners are ideally placed to carry out "real world" research but…

This introduction to a collection of articles on the status of the relationship among educational research, policy, and practice in countries around the world notes that, while research findings influence the development of pressures for change in educational policies and practices, the policy-makers and practitioners, in their turn, influence the…

Examines U.S. educational research policy since the 1960s in conjunction with author's directorship of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Discusses federal education laboratories created in 1965. Reviews the OECD's 1969 evaluation of federal research and development programs. Contends U.S. research policy suffers…

Nineteen articles on the status of the relationship among educational research, policy, and practice around the world are collected in the 1985 edition of the "World Yearbook of Education." Contributors address the development of national policies on educational research in countries in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and…

The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory presents a primer for making educational decisions more systematic, containing a collection of (1) prescriptive guides for clarifying problems and objectives, (2) suggestions for identifying possible solutions, (3) criteria for judging solutions, (4) methods for measuring values, and (5) strategies for…

This document comprises a UNESCO-sponsored inventory of documents on educational planning and management in Asia and the Pacific. The database consists of 714 documents from participating countries, divided into 10 subsections by country and indexed according to author and subject. The main entries are grouped alphabetically by country, as…

"Educators Resource Directory" is designed to provide both educators and education professionals with immediate access to a unique compilation of over 6,500 educational resources and over 130 tables and charts of education statistics and rankings. It would take many hours of searching through multiple resources to uncover all the…

This paper describes the 9-year (1985-1993) evolution of a Tennessee state-sponsored university educational policy research center at the University of Memphis. A recent (1990-1993) restructuring of the unit is summarized within the context of a college-wide reorganization that had important implications for academic, research, and service units…