This report describes the activities of the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), Iowa State University, for the year ending June 30, 1987. During this fiscal year, CARD conducted numerous projects including the following: (1) a policy evaluation on agricultural applications of pesticides and ground water quality for the…

The High Level Seminar on Educational Achievement in Asia and the Pacific was organized in collaboration with the UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Asia and the Pacific (Bangkok, Thailand). The objectives were to exchange information and experiences on educational assessment at the primary and secondary school levels; to review major…

A comprehensive national database on key quantitative and qualitative aspects of scientific and engineering research facilities at universities and colleges is presented. This study was conducted in response to a Congressional request for systematic information on the status of academic research facilities. The National Science Foundation (NSF)…

The Program of Research and Evaluation for Public Schools (PREPS) model is unique because all research and evaluation activities are conceived, conducted, and controlled by the local public schools, members of the consortium. It is a delivery system designed to improve school effectiveness. PREPS was developed as a result of the demand for school…

Because of their proximity to local districts and state and local funding, regional educational service agencies (RESA's) and their staffs of linking or change agents are key tools in communicating new knowledge for educational improvement. This paper explores factors promoting knowledge sharing by distinguishing among knowledge bases (research,…

Vocational education research and development (R&D) product evaluations are difficult to conduct for several reasons, such as the many types of R&D products, the multiple users of the products with different goals for evaluation, the limited time available, and the high cost. In order to meet these challenges, an internal evaluation team…

The Program of Research and Evaluation for Public Schools (PREPS) is a consortium of public school districts in Mississippi working with the Bureau of Educational Research and Evaluation in the College of Education at Mississippi State University. PREPS is designed to provide data to local decision makers and aid them in problem identification.…

This paper examines the steps taken in Sweden and Hungary to improve schools. A description is given of the social-political-economic context of each of these countries, noting their similarities and differences. Particular focus is upon the role played by educational research and development efforts in the two countries, and most particularly on…

The concept of owning knowledge is somewhat ethereal and until recently had little relevance to academic institutions. In principle any object that is capable of being controlled is capable of being owned. The most basic control concerns decisions about whether to communicate knowledge. The philosophical foundation which is the basis of the legal…

This collection of reports examines the current state of development in southern Africa, in general, and in South Africa, in particular. The introduction, "A Development Perspective of Southern Africa" (R. J. W. van der Kooy), briefly reviews the history of southern African development, and discusses purposes, approaches, and progress.…

Brief reports are given of research projects worked on by staff members of the Scottish Council for Research in Education during 1983-84. Major projects included: (1) teaching strategies in the primary school; (2) second international (IEA) mathematics survey; (3) evaluation of the Craigroyston curriculum project; (4) further education for the…

All institutions of higher education receive support from different combinations of patrons holding different expectations about the rewards of their patronage. In fact, much of what goes on in colleges and universities is the result of accommodation of the interests of governmental, industrial, and philanthropic patrons mediated through the…

A project organized by the Consortium for Mathematics and Science Education at the State University of New York at Albany is described. The purpose of the project was to develop closer linkages between practice and research in didactics in mathematics and science education. A state-wide research network was created of higher education faculty with…

The current federal relationship to higher education and the historical underpinnings of this relationship are examined, along with a statistical profile of the federal fiscal impact on higher education. After sketching the historical division of responsibilities for education in the U.S. federal system, attention is directed to the central…

To further the National Institute of Education's goal of ensuring a coordinated and nationally linked outreach capability for providing schools with the knowledge and services generated through research and development (R&D), the nation's R&D centers developed an interorganizational and collaborative school improvement program known as the…