Examines links between educational research and the policy and planning process in Laos. Reviews social and economic conditions influencing Lao education. Describes the use and nonuse of research in educational policy and planning, focusing on decision making and outcomes in a Lao government/Asian Development Bank educational assessment. Suggests…

Addresses both the need to gather data related to pending federal legislation having an impact on the elementary school counselor, with the intent to provide the results of that data to members of Congress, and to heighten awareness of the need to provide elementary school counseling opportunities in the rural regions of one midwestern state. (KW)

This article focuses on strategies that can be used to evolve an evidence-based practice. It describes methods for gathering research information, for reviewing studies critically, and for summarizing information for practice using a model supporting evidence-based practice. An example of the application of these strategies to early intervention…

In this response to an article exploring the practice of social inquiry in special education by drawing from the democratic ethics of John Dewey (Danforth, 2001), the value of professional knowledge based on science is stressed. It argues that mismatching forms of knowledge with questions causes problems. (Contains references.) (CR)

Presents a model to help schools pose and answer data-based questions about teaching and learning, describing different types of data that educators can use to piece together pictures of their schools (e.g., student learning statistics, demographic data, and school process data) and discussing how educators can cross data from different categories…

A winner of the Council for Exceptional Children Research Award reflects on the enabling effect of a supportive context for research, lessons learned relating to career successes and failures, and the value of applied research. The need develop a program of long-term research is discussed. (Contains references.) (CR)

Asserts that the reductionistic methodology used by M. Wang, G. Haertel, and H. Walberg in their study does not do justice to the educational phenomena they wish to illuminate. In addition, these authors have too simple a view of the relationship between educational research and educational practice. (SLD)

M. Wang, G. Haertel, and H. Walberg have produced a summary of the bivariate relationships that influence learning. The problem is how to convert such evidence into knowledge, and the knowledge into policy. Discusses how health science provides a guide for making the conversion from evidence to policy. (SLD)

A study explored constraints experienced by policy researchers working for the National Commission on Student Assistance, founded in 1980 to investigate federal student-aid policy. It analyzed how political changes limited the scope of research questions, influenced reporting of results, and reduced effects of research on policymaking. Findings…

Discusses how McCadden's ideas about teaching, children, and morality change during his time observing a kindergarten class. Notes that McCadden notices the subtle nuances of interactions among a teacher and her students and ably interprets their significance for both. Asserts that McCadden fails to connect his work with relevant research. (JS)

This article examines the social skills training research-to-practice process and argues that a logical and attendant line of rigorous study is lacking. Areas of social inquiry are drawn from to discuss the need for conceptual frameworks to guide investigation and offer a way for research to be designed and interpreted. (Contains references.)…

This paper identifies nine lessons learned from five federally funded special education research to practice projects. Four projects are school-university collaborative partnerships and one is local-school- based. Both models stress research-validated practices to improve performance of students with and without disabilities across multiple years.…

Each year, billions of US tax dollars are spent on basic discovery, intervention development, and efficacy research, while hundreds of billions of US tax dollars are also spent on health service delivery programs. However, little is spent on or known about how best to ensure that the lessons learned from science inform and improve the quality of…

The authors evaluate the actual contribution to classroom practice of recent research in citizenship education conducted by two major international organizations: the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER). The paper adopts Egan's (2002) critical…

Environmental scanning, enrollment forecasting, budget analyses, and institutional effectiveness assessment are examples of the explicit contributions institutional research offices make to campus strategic planning.