This conference report summarizes presentations and discussions of a workshop on vocational rehabilitation and behavioral and social sciences research, which was intended to promote exchange of information within the research community, better management and planning within research projects sponsored by the National Institute on Disability and…

The 1995 National Household Education Survey (NHES:95) was a random digit dial telephone survey of households developed by the National Center for Education Statistics and conducted by Westat, Inc. The first full-scale implementation of the NHES was in 1991. The NHES:95 included two topical survey components, one called the Adult Education (AE)…

A study investigated how the beliefs of literacy scholars affect the development of basal reading programs, the roles literacy scholars play in the development of new reading programs, and some of the critical factors that affect the disposition of innovative ideas. Two literacy scholars who had actively collaborated on the development of separate…

This report explores background data collected as part of recent large-scale literacy surveys because these data may contribute to an understanding of the variables associated with demonstrated proficiency. The first section reviews various approaches to large-scale assessments of literacy. This review sets the context for exploring variation in…

Five speakers of international prominence from around the world presented a program dealing with the research efforts of academic librarians and the effect of research on academic libraries in Australia and New Zealand, India, Russia, Africa (with an emphasis on Kenya), and the United Kingdom. This proceedings includes the following papers…

Recent research creates a better understanding of how writing is best learned, taught, and used for learning in school and life. Research done by Anne Haas Dyson and Carol Stack has indicated that many low-income African American children may bring resources to school that are often overlooked. Matthew Downey moves from Dyson's findings about how…

Seven small business owners, professors, and leaders answered the question of whether academia can help small business owners. In the opinion of a small business owner, academia offers too much theory and too few real skills. According to the president of the National Federation of Independent Business, academia can play a role in the development…

The teaching of literature is not well understood in American schools, nor has there been any major change in conceptualizing secondary school literature instruction in the past 25 years. In addition, study of how students come to understand literature parallel to the study of the writing process is almost nonexistent. For the past few years,…

This multidisciplinary analysis identifies how an understanding of information processing and decision making as social processes can determine the effectiveness of educational reform strategies, with a focus on viewing the roles of educational leaders as information processors and policy negotiators. This paper: (1) presents an overview of…

An experience in attempting to transform research into practice is described, with questions raised about the relationship between research and practice. The author begins by describing the two research traditions which exerted the most force on the design of the program. How the philosophy and findings of those traditions were interpreted and…

Suggests that educational research may have to settle for the role of information purveyor rather than that of a catalyst for change because education is so much intertwined with the political processes which permeate our national life. (Author/AM)

A survey experiment of a national sample of social workers revealed that although respondents distinguished between studies with good and bad research designs, their judgements of research quality and implications for their own practice were significantly influenced by whether the findings were positive or negative. (Editor/JT)

Supervisors from state vocational rehabilitation agencies described their information resources, and practices. In preparing proposals they rate facts from their own or similar agencies as most potent. They relied even more heavily upon personal experiences. Suggestions are made for better linking state supervisors to current rehabilitation…

An examination of the limitations of I.Q. testing, the dangers of misclassification, the moral issues of testing as well as some of the legal consequences of such mishaps. Several alternatives and recommendations are offered. (EH)

This book highlights the use of research and other forms of knowledge for meaningful school reform by faculties engaged in the National Education Association's "Mastery in Learning Project" (MIL). This project is a school-based education reform initiative designed to help school faculties take an active role in directing school renewal…