Few researchers think in terms of their role in translating their findings into action in the field or in programs. The author recalls, when she was Director of Research and Evaluation for the Administration for Children Youth and Families, HHS, how much of the research was not being applied to what goes on or what was needed at the Head Start…

This paper comments on strengths and weaknesses of the papers on communities of practice in this special issue of "Technology, Pedagogy and Education." First it discusses the character of communities of practice and the question of whether schools are environments that are conducive to the development of teacher communities of practice. It then…

Despite the importance of community college administrative positions and the recognition of their stressful nature, they have traditionally received little scholarly or professional attention. Recently, however, professional associations have been developed solely for the purpose of providing professional development opportunities to college…

This digest examines the spread of mentoring in the United States, obstacles to realizing the potential of mentoring as a vehicle of reform, needed research, and selected issues of policy and practice. While the education community understands that mentors have a positive effect on teacher retention, the question of what mentors should do, what…

A needs assessment evaluated the informational needs that state directors of special education will have following the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Data on information needs were gathered at a meeting of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education's Board of Directors in June 1996.…

This paper explores how youth programs, particularly programs that try to prepare young people for the world of work and higher education, are organized and implemented in the field. It is argued that, in many cases, the needs of program practitioners are overlooked by the research community. The focus is on the field of "second-chance"…

This book describes the background, discussions, proceedings, and prospects of three consultations held by the Statistics Netherlands office under the aegis of the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. The overall goal of the consultations is to facilitate the development of common methods and instruments for health interview…

Student development has become a buzz word within the student affairs profession and the concept of student development has become the guiding paradigm of the student affairs profession. Unfortunately, this embracing of student development lacked the necessary critique or debate essential to academics. This digest provides an abstract of a major…

There exists in the counseling and therapy professions the paradox of widespread endorsement of research with little use of, or engagement in, research in actual practice. This situation exists in large part because many counselors and therapists are less knowledgeable of research than they are of clinical practice. This collection of digests,…

This consensus report on supported employment for people with severe mental retardation was a product of a conference which brought together the expertise of consumers, practitioners, researchers, family members, and analysts. Determinants of success in supported employment for this population are identified along with critical issues for…

This report presents data from all 50 states on due process hearings concerning the education of students with disabilities for the years 1992, 1993, and 1994. Data were gathered from a 1996 survey conducted by the National Association of State Directors of Special Education. This survey updates due process statistics from a 1994 survey that…

Proceedings of a symposium sponsored by the Coalition for Education in the Outdoors (CEO) are presented in this report. The CEO is a network of institutions, organizations, agencies, businesses, and associations in support of outdoor education. This symposium, reflecting the work of CEO's Research Task Force, provides literature reviews and field…

Student emotional response to teacher classroom behaviors may offer a theoretical framework for explaining student learning. Such a framework may encompass other models, such as arousal/motivation or identification, in offering an explanation of why students learn when teachers exhibit certain behaviors. Emotional response has provided…

This paper reports on research into the concept of mentoring from many educational perspectives, based on six papers presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in April 1994. The paper notes that mentoring is a slippery concept, without a precise operational definition; definitions used in the six papers are…

This report focuses on several reasons for questioning the appropriateness of the standard measures of returns to education in deciding about education programs and evaluating their comparative advantages vis-a-vis other investments in developing countries. The goal is to provide some guidelines in selecting future research options in the field of…