In this essay we begin with a discussion of what we call the "great gap" between our research and its influence on society. We point out that although there is ample evidence speaking to these areas, a lack of societal change suggests that evidence has largely gone unnoticed, ignored, or not well promoted or disseminated. Throughout this…

The year 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the American Educational Research Association and the 50th anniversary of the publication of "Equality of Educational Opportunity," known as the "Coleman Report." These key moments in the field's history ushered in important paradigm shifts in the practice of education research; in…

Six suggestions for improving education in the country are offered. The case is made first that unless children's health care is improved, educational achievement among the poor will not improve. The second point is that poverty limits school achievement as well. Without work on these two issues, neither the nation nor the nation's schools will be…

Descriptive data on allocated time, engaged time, and academic learning time are presented and examined. The thesis of this paper is that the marked variability in these three variables is the most potent explanatory variable to account for variability in student achievement, after initial aptitude has been removed as a predictor variable. A…

Agrees with Feuer, Towne, and Shavelson's article about scientific culture and educational research and with the National Research Council Report upon which it was based, but contends that science does not mean the same thing to everyone, nor have distinctions between educational science and other sciences been well made in either report. Examines…

Comparing teaching to medicine, this article argues that thoughtful practitioners intelligently evaluate educational research, reconcile that research with practical knowledge, and use artistry in considering the context. Researchers must, in turn, communicate to teachers their respect for the wisdom needed in their practice. (MLH)

Under the stewardship of the Department of Education, recent acts of Congress confuse the methods of science with the process of science, possibly doing great harm to scholarship in education. An otherwise exemplary National Research Council report to help clarify the nature of educational science fails to emphasize the complexity of scientific…

Procedures used to select classes for an intensive study of change processes in teacher and student classroom behavior resulting in increases in academic learning time are discussed. Included in the text are sections on the philosophy of the intervention, the procedures and methodology to be used, the history of selection, the instructional model,…

This reply to an article on educational research by Chester E. Finn agrees that the U.S. Department of Education does not give enough support to research, but disagrees with Finn's analysis. What is needed is a strong infrastructure for educational research. This in turn will inspire educators to identify and examine the important questions. (VM)

The clinical inquiry approach to classroom research is seen as a desirable alternative to traditional educational research methods. (LH)

In studies relating teacher effectiveness and student achievement, the establishment of empirical relationships between teacher behavior as an independent variable and student behavior as a dependent variable is essential. Problems concerned with instrumentation, methodology, and statistics of such research are discussed. (BT)

Historically, teaching has been considered an art, not a science, and therefore not subject to scientific analysis. However, there now exists a body of knowledge and a fresh set of conceptions about teaching upon which to base teacher education. Recent and numerous advances in pedagogical knowledge can now be used to provide teacher education with…

This report discusses the fact that many educators are committed to competency based teacher education and teacher accountability systems in spite of the lack of empirical evidence linking teacher behavior to student outcomes in the classroom. Some of the difficulties associated with research in this area are identified as problems in…

Presents the views of six former presidents of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) on the future of the AERA and of educational research in general. Most, although not all, agree that the AERA should become more politically active than it has been and should adopt positions on specific educational policy questions. (SLD)

The study presented here examines whether an ethnographic approach to the study of teaching yields new insight into the teaching-learning process. Two-hundred teachers, who differed in measured effectiveness, were recruited from thirteen school districts in the state of California. Each teacher taught two experimental teaching units (ETU's) of…