This review of research connected to Project Student Teacher Achievement Ratio (STAR) is a summary of the project's ongoing work in the form of a letter from researchers to a hypothetical colleague. Project STAR has investigated the effect on student achievement and development of small classes in the primary grades (K through 3). A research…

This paper expresses points of view about what is needed to create a knowledge base for educational improvement. It argues that educators have failed to build a strong foundation for education's presumed cumulative effect. The paper assesses the claim that education constitutes a profession and discusses ways to improve the current educational…

Discussion of the role of pragmatics research in language teaching looks at the role such research should play in the language classroom, and the role of researcher, teacher, and teacher educator in making that connection. It is noted that pragmatics research has discovered a number of differences in the ways in which first- and second-language…

This guide to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is designed to help the secondary data analyst use the NAEP and to introduce some of the sophisticated technology used by the NAEP. The NAEP has been gathering information on American students since 1969. It samples populations that consist of all students in U.S. schools, both…

Issues in the impact of educational research on educational policy and practice in Australian schools are addressed in this paper, which provides an overview of the numerous research and evaluation projects being conducted in Australian education. Specific questions examined are the extent to which: (1) the research subjects (schools) benefit from…

This paper reports on a project to create and integrate an institutional research function into the executive-level policy decision making process at a private university. The paper identifies ten problems that needed to be overcome; they include: timeliness, consideration of qualitative factors, the limited scope of institutional research…

The primary job of parents is to ensure safe passage for their children from infancy through adolescence to adulthood. Research has indicated many things schools can do to turn the privilege of safe passage into a right. Three research-based programs that work to achieve safe passage are described. The first is Caring Connection, a "one-stop-shop"…

This research digest reports that the field of educational policy is faced with an interrelated set of challenges for the future: producing high quality work while ensuring that paradigmatic ideas are useful for operational purposes. Scholarship in educational policy faces two kinds of institutional problems. The first is the retrenchment in the…

This paper analyzes the process of collaborative research at Harvard University's Educational Technology Center, focusing on the conflicts or tensions that reveal differences in the cultures of schools and universities. It clarifies differences between schools and universities in tacit assumptions and values, in customary language and norms, and…

A public school district in Colorado initiated a study which addressed the issue of how to insure good beginnings for new teachers and provide direct assistance and intervention to develop the skills of competent professionals. The approach discussed here is a beginning teacher induction program, which includes a Professional Development Seminar.…

Research verifies that successful reading and writing programs need administrative support. One way to get administrative support is for teachers to convince their administrators that they know what works best for children in their classroom. Teachers can help in moving from practice to research and can gain the support of their administrators by…

The Joe Camel campaign by RJR Nabisco began in 1990 in an attempt to increase the brand's sagging market share. Studies showed the campaign's appeal to young children and teenagers. In the debate that followed, several children's advocates renewed their appeals for restriction on cigarette ads. A review of the literature shows that children are at…

This publication, a panel presentation of four papers, contains: (1) "The Historical Dimension--Implications for Excellence" (David B. Ripley), which presents a partial review of the history of education literature, where educators are now, and where they should be in the future; (2) "Philosophical Research in Education--Implications for…

A program description and supporting materials of the San Diego County (California) Effective Schools Program are presented. The program involves a three-phase, research-based process for improving effectiveness at the school site. The phases are: assessment, planning, and implementation. Following an overview of the program, the steps involved in…

The Mesa School Profile, limited to cognitive and demographic characteristics, was broadened by the School Climate Surveys developed to accumulate information regarding the affective dimensions of each secondary school as well as the district (junior and senior high schools only) as a whole. Questionnaires designed by the Human Resources Research…