With real-world examples from actual schools, this book illustrates how to nurture a culture of continuous improvement, meet the needs of individual students, foster an environment of high expectations, and meet the requirements of NCLB. Each component of the Data-Driven Instructional Leadership (DDIS) model represents several branches of…

This writing is an investigation into the use of action research methods and tools as a means for preparing 26 preservice teachers to effectively link assessment to instruction. Two concepts emerged from the data: the importance of developmentally appropriate practice and documenting and validating student learning. This study suggests the power…

This chapter describes how an action research framework facilitates using evaluation and assessment results to improve programs and demonstrate institutional effectiveness. (Contains 1 table.)

Increasingly, researchers, teacher educators and governmental agencies underline the need for early childhood professionals to be able to conduct and use relevant research in their practice. In contrast, early childhood teachers tend to draw exclusively on practical advice rather than research evidence to evaluate and develop their teaching. To…

These proceedings report the efforts of National Science Foundation researchers to disseminate innovations in undergraduate education. Section 1 contains forewords and keynote addresses by Robert F. Watson, Neal F. Lane, and Luther S. Williams. Section 2 contains overviews on dissemination and publishing including "Full-Scale Implementation: The…

This paper examines ongoing changes related to appropriate methods and practices in Aboriginal educational research, including community control of research based on the principle of self-determination. This assertion of control includes the redefinition of relationships in the research process; appropriate initiation of research projects;…

Among the 99 conference papers presented are the following: "Whither the Consumer Interest: The Role of Consumer Education and Research in an Era of Public Reinvention" (Colien Hefferan); "The Scientific Foundations of Consumer Advice: Some Comments" (E. Scott Maynes); "Self-Employment: A Viable Economic Alternative for the California Hispanic…

Chapters in this book, based on the efforts of the Urban Education National Network Task Force, define the nature of obstacles to the academic performance of urban students and identify, validate, and disseminate a knowledge base of theory and practice to inform decision making about urban schools. The chapters are: (1) "The Nature of the…

The search for knowledge about effective teachers has produced a great deal of research activity utilizing a variety of research techniques. This paper discusses research on national Teachers of the Year (Shanoski and Hranitz, 1989, 1990, 1991) and relates it to the teacher effectiveness clusters identified by Donald Cruikshank (1990) in his study…

This study compared the ideas of researchers with those of practitioners in higher education regarding what is considered significant and useful literature in terms of content, methodology, and format. The findings were interpreted in terms of theories of action research and the quality movement. Data were compiled using focus groups of…

Although curriculum development ideas suggested by Doctor of Philosophy and Master's students have received little attention in the curriculum literature, they have existed for some time and have been gaining momentum. In Israel, a high proportion of the science education dissertations has involved curriculum development. A review of curriculum…

This study provides a description and analysis of how teachers read research in light of prior beliefs about what research is and how it should influence teaching. Attention to teachers' beliefs has become an essential feature of studies designed to help understand research. The beliefs on which researchers and teacher educators typically focus…

To talk about the dissemination of research is to talk about the relationship between theory and practice. A body of empirical and conceptual knowledge has accumulated in an area known as the dissemination and utilization of scientific knowledge. Researchers and practitioners will interact at two points: as the knowledge base is transferred, and…

Academia is one of the professions in which socially constructed fictions have tremendous power. Years of graduate study and the power of academic mentors creates an environment which deeply socializes future academics. The image of the academic professional which is currently promulgated emerged during the expansionist (post-World War II) period…

Development has traditionally been seen as part of a one-way street running from the researcher to the practitioner. Studies of the "mutual adaptation" of development products undercut this view of development and suggest that it should be seen as a two-way street that takes into account the practical knowledge of teachers and administrators. A…