The focus of this book is major educational innovations, that is, programs and curricula that have achieved widespread influence. It presents such fundamentals as definitions, descriptions, theoretical and empirical bases, critical analyses, and conclusions from published research. (The book discusses only published research.) Titles of the 15…

Many teachers view educational research as inaccessible, irrelevant, and sometimes wrong. The Educational Research and Dissemination Program translates research into practical classroom applications and gives teachers the opportunity to adapt and refine it. (Author/LHW)

The current unified-system view of educational knowledge production and utilization is seen to be inadequate. A reformulation of the conceptual structure on which the program is built must be complete, balanced, and realistic in order to mount programs in education which can command broad-based support. (Author/AM)

It is suggested that the potential contributions research and development activities can make to the improvement of educational practice are far from fully realized for a variety of reasons. Researchers overlook problems teachers consider important, teachers are skeptical of proposals from external groups, and researchers and teachers lack a…

Change may result from product advocacy, laissez-faire competition, or change-process advocacy. The National Institute of Education (NIE) has adopted the last posture, whereby the agency advocates a strategy of implementing change by sponsoring a sequence of activities including need and capability assessments, trial of alternatives, evaluation…

American Education has suffered from its inability to communicate and gain wide adoption of educational improvements. Since the National Institute of Education (NIE) will be judged in terms of the degree to which educational practice is improved, it must assume responsibility for the implementation of new findings. Thus, NIE must conduct a…

Volume II is a compendium of the major existing literature that (1) describes the activities performed in educational RDD&E; and (2) presents the frameworks or models that have been used to define, describe, differentiate, and relate educational RDD&E. It serves as a basic literature source for the design and implementation of new training…

In 1976 the National Institute of Education established the Research and Development Utilization (RDU) Program. This project was intended to apply research and development products to local school problems; to develop a problem-solving and product selection process usable by local schools and to organize a linkage system making national, state,…

The seven papers and four discussions in this publication present several perspectives on educational innovation and its adoption in the schools. Topics discussed include political and structural protection of innovations, change introduced from outside the school, ESEA Title III influences on change processes, local school district change…

A well-developed approach to dissemination and utilization (D&U) at the four levels of spread, exchange, choice, and implementation is essential if vocational education research and development (R&D) is to achieve the measurable impact found lacking in a Committee on Vocational Education Research and Development (COVERD) assessment (1956). Federal…

An analysis of data is presented compiled from 135 institutional responses to questionnaires investigating the role of schools, colleges, and departments of education (SCDEs) in knowledge production and utilization (KPU). Explanation is made of the technique and rationale employed in categorizing the responding schools by degree level,…

Volume II is a compendium of the major existing literature that (1) describes the activities performed in educational RDD&E; and (2) presents the frameworks or models that have been used to define, describe, differentiate, and relate educational RDD&E. The volume serves as a basic literature source for the design and implementation of new training…

With particular attention to vocational research and development, this study reviewed the literature to obtain information on the factors or influences causing teachers to change practices. Research and development in vocational education was treated as an independent variable in an experimental research design with moderating variables of product…

From April to September 1995, Arizona's Maricopa Community College District (MCCD) conducted interviews with faculty and staff to develop a database of innovative practices related to the District's desired learning paradigms. This report describes results from the study in three sections. The first section summarizes the project's research…

Several documents concerning regional educational laboratories are reviewed, key propositions are analyzed, and recommendations are proposed. Attention is directed to the way that labs and centers operate with regard to dissemination and school improvement. Overviews are presented of two major reports: "R&D Funding Policies of the…