Researcher-practitioner partnerships (RPPs) present opportunities to conduct studies that support evidence-based decision-making for participating school districts. Doing this work effectively requires ongoing input from key stakeholders, attention to the local impact of the research, and targeted dissemination to audiences who can benefit from…

The purpose of this study is to examine how Illinois school districts are utilizing the Illinois 5Essentials Survey results, particularly for school improvement, to determine challenges to successful implementation, and to make recommendations for improvements to the 5E Survey and implementation process for statewide use. We also summarize…

With a view to bridging the gap between elementary (primary) and secondary school second language teachers and researchers, the study reported in this paper identified differences in language register, educators' lack of access to research articles and lack of shared space for researchers and educators to communicate as causes of the gap. There is…

The results of a survey of 400 randomly selected principals from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland appear to validate a newly developed instrument for measuring three factors: the depth of principals' interests in information developed through educational research, the extent to which these principals exhibit rational approaches to…

The Teacher Followup Survey (TFS) is a 1-year followup of a sample of teachers who were originally selected for the Teacher Questionnaire of the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) of the National Center for Education Statistics. There have been three data cycles for the SASS and three TFS versions. This data file user's manual enables the user to…

The Teacher Followup Survey (TFS) is a 1-year follow-up of a sample of teachers who were originally selected for the Teacher Questionnaire in the Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS), an integrated set of surveys of public and private schools. There have been three data cycles for the SASS, and three for the TFS. The data in this report links…

Educational research is designed to generate valid and reliable information needed by decision-makers. The issue of research utilization is of utmost importance, especially as it relates to the federal government; however, much of the research has not found its way into the policymaking process. This issue precipitated a survey of 141 Mid-South…

The Mentor Teacher Project, initiated in 1985, involved the development and implementation of a new field component into the Academic Learning Teacher Education Program at Michigan State University. The field component, piloted with the Academic Learning students in the class of 1987, was subsequently revised and its impact on the class of 1988…

School board members, district superintendents, and building principals in 170 districts in 16 western states were surveyed to determine the role of school boards in school self-study evaluations. Analysis of the questionnaires resulted in the following conclusions: (1) board members seldom assisted in the evaluation process, especially in larger…

This report discusses a study that examined state technical assistance (TA) infrastructures that support research-based practices for improved outcomes for students with disabilities served under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The 10 participating states included: Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, Montana, Oklahoma,…

Between 1977 and 1981, the Basic Skills Component of Research for Better Schools worked with education agencies to develop a research-based approach to improving basic skills instruction and student achievement. Called Achievement Directed Leadership (ADL), the approach was field tested extensively in three school districts during the 1981-82…

These technical appendices are bound separately from the report "Strategies for Knowledge Use and School Improvement" which evaluates the National Institute of Education's Research and Development Utilization (RDU) program. Appendix A contains a preliminary report on the statistical quality of the quantitative data, focusing primarily on…

This document was designed to help teams of policymakers, practitioners, and advocates implement inclusive practices in state and local school systems. It is based on a policy evaluation framework with guiding questions to be used to assess the extent to which state and local systems are inclusive in six key areas: (1) curriculum; (2) assessment;…

The Teacher Education and Mentoring Program (TEAM) allows intern teachers who have not completed the required teacher education courses prior to employment as regular classroom teachers to have the support of master teachers, or mentors, while teaching with provisional certification. The internship is a closely supervised practicum with each…

The search for knowledge about effective teachers has produced a great deal of research activity utilizing a variety of research techniques. This paper discusses research on national Teachers of the Year (Shanoski and Hranitz, 1989, 1990, 1991) and relates it to the teacher effectiveness clusters identified by Donald Cruikshank (1990) in his study…