This chapter discusses frameworks and conceptual lenses that help orient design-based implementation research (DBIR) work to the types of infrastructure required for success, while contributing to theories about the processes of educational improvement. Such infrastructures can be conceived as a framework: a set of interconnected elements that…

This document reports on an investigation which surveyed process analysis and documentation concepts, practices, and standards in light of the need for communicating the processes and outcomes of educational research and development. The survey demonstrated that the areas of impartial process analysis and documentation are both important and…

As educators across the nation launch into frenzied efforts to "do something" in response to the various recommendations of commissions on educational excellence, many are forgetting that knowledge of how to implement change is available. This paper focuses on three concerns that educators must face when fitting general recommendations…

An analysis of the findings of a 1973 survey of research/information needs for promoting innovation in community colleges is presented. This survey was made of institutions which had previously expressed interest in information assistance. Analyses are made by topic area, region and topics by region. These tentative conclusions were reached: (1) a…

To avoid implementation problems, thought must be given to diagnosis and systematic adaptive planning for the implementation of educational innovations. (MM)

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,…

A gap exists between educational research results and new educational programs. In the absence of either an increase in the supply of professional change agents to fill this gap or a proliferation of applied development centers, it is the researcher, or the professor, who must, along with teachers and administrators, utilize research to engineer…

Most recent initiatives to improve teaching may be characterized as top-down, compliance-oriented policies that seek to increase accountability and regulate different aspects of the profession. Little regard has been paid to the development of assistance programs at the state level that aim at building capacity among teachers and local school…

The state of the art in the implementation of education innovation is assessed in three parts: (1) the identification of promising theories, important issues, and proven implementation strategies with emphasis on practical implications; (2) a review of research directly related to the development and implementation of new occupational education…

Educational research and development (educational R&D), more recently called educational knowledge production and utilization, has become a prominent feature of the educational scene with many of its salient characteristics having taken shape during the last ten years. The federal role in educational R&D began in 1867 with the formation of the…

Fifty vocational educators, including directors of Research Coordinating Units, participated in a 1-week institute designed to identify ways to revitalize vocational education in metropolitan areas. The participants heard and reacted to presentations by five nationally recognized individuals which emphasized change process and educational…

The general meaning of research data drawn from study of school improvement programs creates the opportunity for sound theory building. By emphasizing the principal's role in policy development, this paper analyzes the characteristics of large-scale educational innovation projects and their explanatory foundations. Belgium's comprehensive Renewed…

This paper describes a method of research to examine the process of effecting educational change through adopting innovative ideas. Twenty-nine elementary teachers in the process of adopting a complex curricular innovation were studied. Because of the complex nature of this process, ordering theory was used as the method for analyzing the adoption…

Three research questions are addressed in this paper: (1) What does school improvement mean in relation to the context of a research project? (2) Given particular developments in European society and the nature of primary research data, what should schools be like in the year 2001? (3) What steps are being taken in research and development to…

The Title III program of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act called PACE (Projects to Advance Creativity in Education), is designed to encourage school districts to develop imaginative solutions to educational problems; to utilize research findings more effectively; and to create, design and make intelligent use of supplementary centers and…