The theoretical fields of adult developmental psychology and andragogy provide some principles or rules for action that may lead to useful improvements in course organization and teaching methodology. An analysis of the principles and the likely effects of their implementation has led to the following speculation: principles that are not likely to…

When a school system chooses to buy into modern computer technology as the way to solve some existing problems and to meet pressing needs, a myriad of new problems and issues are created. However, the new problems are worth solving to allow the system to benefit from the new technology. In other words, the conversion to using the latest computer…

In 1976 and 1977, the New York region team of the Documentation and Technical Assistance Project (DTA), Center for New Schools (Chicago, Illinois), conducted 12 seminars on major issues concerning school improvement, based on observations by documentation teams in nine school community sites. The information is then disseminated to technical…

Ways in which five teacher education program development teams used codified knowledge in educational literature were examined. Questions guiding the research included: (1) To what extent was educational literature considered during the deliberations of the program development teams? (2) What was the relationship between discussions of educational…

An annotated bibliography is organized to match the format of the Standards for Evaluations of Educational Programs, Projects, and Materials, including sections on utility, feasibility, propriety, and accuracy of evaluations. It identifies literature that includes in-depth information about the issues covered in the Standards. The Standards are…

Literature on vocational education research and development (R&D) was reviewed to determine the distribution, utilization, and impact of R&D information and products. The literature indicated both slightly and strongly negative findings on the dissemination of vocational education R&D products. Many of the studies described strategies…

The authors in this volume propose expanding the topic of motivation in the preservice teacher education program by including contemporary research. Margaret W. Cohen reviews a body of research and theory concerned with the effects of extrinsic reinforcers on intrinsic motivation. She notes that contemporary research in the area of intrinsic…

Recent developments in the social policy literature suggest a growing overlap in community and social policy interests and methods. This combination of community and policy interests is illustrated by tracing successive steps of the Illinois Residential Life Survey in order to support programming decisions about community mental health in a…

A description is given of the West Virginia Microcomputer Educational Network in the context of excellence in education and how it enables educators in schools, colleges/universities, and the State Department of Education to access and input to an information base of research findings, successful practices, and operational programs related to…

In 1956, the Press Research Centre was established in Cracow, Poland by a group of journalists and publishers, for the purpose of instituting press research that would have practical applications. The aims of the Centre were to conduct studies on the history of the Polish press, the contemporary press, press readership, and editorial techniques.…

One of the reasons educational research does not have greater impact on the classroom, the authors argue, is that researchers are inexperienced in working with practitioners. Based on their experience working with a work/study group composed jointly of school personnel from a San Jose junior high school and faculty members and students from…

A survey of research on teacher effectiveness (that is, whether what is taught is indeed that which produces improvement in student performance) reveals that very little is known about what makes a good teacher, a position that is becoming increasingly untenable as competency-based education is introduced. The main gap is in research into changes…

This analysis reveals critical weaknesses surrounding the theoretical basis for the AIR (American Institutes for Research) evaluation design. It poses questions concerning the evaluation methodology. Specifically, it identifies major discrepancies in the identification of the target population, the selection of comparable control groups, test…

A clear and present need exists for research in schools leading to defensible, reliable objective data for decision-making, as opposed to research on schools, which is generally limited to experimental methodology leading to "general truths." Reasons for an increasing need for in-school research are: (1) an increasingly sophisticated…

This handbook was produced to address some of the questions raised at a workshop for producers, programmers, performers, researchers, and writers in the field of Canadian children's television. Three main areas are covered. The first section provides an indication of some of the information that research can supply for the improvement of…