Despite calls for evidence-based decision making, the field has a limited understanding of how educational leaders actually engage research. This study draws on a nationally representative sample of 368 district and school leaders who named pieces of research that were useful to their work. Educational leaders found frameworks and practical…

The authors argue for a clearer understanding of the role of research in the preparation of educational professionals at the doctoral level. Building on the work of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED), the authors define the nature of problems of practice, offer three ways in which professional practitioners engage research in…

One of the greatest challenges in education today is to adapt and respond to a linguistically and culturally diverse world, and to combat social disintegration and discrimination. Participatory and collaborative action research represents an empowering and emancipatory approach to this challenge because the "target groups" become…

Many stakeholders have long argued that teachers should use data from their own teaching as a way to improve their performance. The first chapter of this dissertation is a summary of the literature that advises mathematics teachers about what data they should gather and how they should use those data to improve instruction. The literature is…

This study was undertaken to enlighten both practitioners and the Laboratory about current practices of school research offices in utilizing R & D information. Data for the study came from (1) background readings on organizational theory, (2) recent studies on research offices in local school districts, (3) personal interviews with 15…

The massage therapy profession is currently engaged in a competency-based education movement that includes an emphasis on promoting massage therapy research competencies (MTRCs). A systems-based model for integrating MTRCs into massage therapy education was therefore proposed. The model and an accompanying checklist describe an approach to…

The National Reading Panel (NRP) reviewed quantitative reading research focusing on grades K-3 to identify methods leading to reading success. The following areas were identified as key areas in the process of beginning to read: (1) phonemic awareness; (2) phonics; (3) fluency; (4) vocabulary; and (5) comprehension. The research findings were…

This set of five digests provides an overview of the issue of attaining excellence in vocational education. The first digest deals with effective schools research, characteristics of effective schools, implications of effective schools research for high school vocational education, and strategies for improving school effectiveness. Covered in the…

Learners' views on their progress and achievement in literacy and numeracy were examined in a study during which practitioners from eight further education colleges in England interviewed 70 adults (ages 16 to over 60 years) enrolled in literacy, numeracy, or English-for-speakers-of-other-languages programs. The metaphor of traveling on a learning…

This document is intended to help practitioners and researchers in the United Kingdom find and use Internet-based research resources dealing with raising achievement. The introduction discusses the state of research into school effectiveness in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Part A, which reviews available World Wide Web sites devoted to…

This document chronicles the experience of the National Training Institute (NTI) for Community Youth Work and four of its Building Exemplary Systems for Training Youth Workers (BEST) affiliates in establishing youth development practitioner apprenticeship (YDPA) programs. Part 1 describes the work of NTI and BEST intermediary organizations to lay…