The Cochrane Collaboration is an international project to locate, review, and disseminate information on available randomized controlled trials of health care interventions. Occupational therapists can use it to learn about best practices and evaluate research relevant to their clients. (SK)

Describes the action research model used by the Pennsylvania Action Research Network, summarizes impact evaluation results since 1995, and concludes that the network has had a major impact on the professional development of adult educators in the state. (SK)

The National Research Council proposes to improve student learning through its Strategic Education Research Program. With its focus on effective translation of research into practice, the proposal fails to acknowledge the public and professional value of research as a source of understanding, reflection, and action. Presents educational,…

Practices to ensure access of students with disabilities to general education include assessments, reading instruction, cooperative learning, strategy-based instruction, accommodation practices, block scheduling, co-teaching, and technology. Organizational and systemic change should be the ultimate outcome of the use of research-based practices.…

Discusses some of the processes involved in the data flow from U.S. schools through U.S. school districts and examines what is involved in making the data as accurate as possible. Explores how the data, as information, can flow back down to districts and how that flow can be increased. (SLD)

Compares Carr and Kemmis' view of action research, linked to the emancipatory political ideology of critical theory, with Dewey's pragmatic epistemology, focused on moving from a problem identified in experience through a means-end continuum that guides inquiry. (Contains 28 references.) (SK)

A 20-year review of literature on return to work outcomes for ill or injured persons found that research is largely atheoretical and the knowledge base fragmented. The Occupational Competence Model can fill this gap by reflecting the multidimensional nature of work disability (personal, environmental, and occupational dimensions) and factors…

Today's brain research is unveiling new information that supports and advocates for the methodologies and practices seen in technology education laboratories. Technology educators must keep current in order to apply this information in teaching. (JOW)

If vocational psychology is to realize its potential as a developmental science, it must speak authoritatively on substantive questions of vocational development and integrate research findings with those of other fields. This will contribute to the larger framework of life-span human development. (Contains 36 references.) (Author/SK)

This article describes what a structured abstract is and how a structured abstract can help researchers sort out information. Today over 1,000 education journals publish more than 20,000 articles in the English language each year. No systematic tool is available at present to get the research findings from these tens of thousands of articles to…

This brief represents part 1 in a series on fostering the adoption of evidence-based practices in out-of-school time programs. The lag between discovering effective practices and using them "on the ground" can be unnecessarily long, sometimes taking 15 to 20 years! The purpose of this brief is to provide practitioners with a better understanding…

The annual report reviews research priorities, major Institute of Education Sciences (IES) updates, and recent resolutions. National Board for Education Sciences (NBES) members conclude that the Institute has made important initial progress in transforming education into an evidence-based field in which decision-makers routinely seek out the best…

In this article, the author reflects on three or four main areas where policy and research coincide or conflict as exemplified in the varied articles of the "Cambridge Journal of Education" and suggests some of the things that he and other authors might learn from each other. Before considering those areas where the researcher philosopher and the…

When Robert W. Van Kirk released a study in January about selenium contamination in trout streams in southeastern Idaho, he expected some flak from the influential phosphate-mining industry. He did not expect to feel pressured by the administration of his own institution, Idaho State University, where he is an associate professor of mathematics.…

This commentary observes that the contributions to this special issue of this journal not only show that the question of the relationship between research and practice is still very much alive today but they are also testimony to the persistent nature of this question. This suggests that the issue of the relationship between research and practice…