Guidelines to help ensure that educational research is meaningful and important include (1) have confidence in your own conviction and methods; (2) remember that the conduct of research is an artistic activity; and (3) try to situate the inquiry in a social and historical context to increase its meaning. (SLD)

The present author's experiences teaching a graduate course on evaluation for those who train adults in various settings illustrate how principles of adult learning made the course practical. Outcomes from class experiences with an actual program evaluation are described for the students, evaluation client, and teacher. (SLD)

Describes the variety of motivating instructional techniques modeled by the instructor in an undergraduate foundations of education course: lecture with transparencies; effective use of videos; cooperative learning; effective review techniques; computer-assisted instruction; and the Program for Effective Teaching model. (IAH)

Review of 48 studies concerning interventions designed to impact the reading comprehension of students with learning disabilities suggests that strong effect sizes are more likely when researchers compare experimental treatment to nontreatment, deliver treatment themselves rather than have classroom teachers deliver it, and assess treatment…

Under new editorship, this publication will remain a refereed scholarly journal for the curriculum and supervision fields without becoming the educational counterpart of the "New England Journal of Medicine." The new editor solicits submission of manuscripts reporting mindful research and probing critique on school restructuring,…

Special education teachers (n=83) from five states were surveyed concerning difficulties in implementing various educational practices validated by researchers. Time constraints and administrative support were seen as major obstacles to implementation. The reported presence of quality indicators correlated with teacher skill and implementation…

Describes how teachers can transform self-regulated learning theory and research into classroom practice. Defines the concept and discusses the costs of encouraging student dependency, the benefits of nurturing student self-regulation, and implementation recommendations. Teachers should model self-regulatory attitudes and behaviors, incorporate…

Describes an assistant professor's experience teaching two eighth-grade classes: a self-contained group of students with learning and emotional disabilities and an English/social studies class that mainstreamed disabled students and used a team-teaching approach. Advocates "pull-ins," or putting children into special programs and…

This paper examines whole language and process approaches to writing instruction, outlining their benefits (frequent and meaningful writing, support of self-regulated learning, and emphasis on the integrative nature of learning in literacy development) and weaknesses (overreliance on incidental learning and lack of emphasis on the mechanics of…

Reports on a curriculum development project in which principles of instructional design were integrated with real-world experiences in a corporate environment to provide a connection between graduate education and practice. Evaluations by learners, the client, student teams, and the instructor are discussed, and guidelines for similar projects are…

This paper examines the development of service policy for people with intellectual disabilities in Australia, noting the minor role of research and empirical enquiry. Research's significant role in monitoring policy during the implementation phase is, however, acknowledged. A coordinated research program contributing to both policy development and…

Examines the probationary year in teacher education, noting that this period of intensive learning can reveal much about the processes of teacher professional development. Probationary teachers can potentially make substantial contributions to their own education, their schools, and the profession provided that there are effective induction…

Discusses whether change in favor of vocational preparation compromises liberal arts values and what effects such a change would have in undergraduate psychology programs. Proposes a new liberal skills model and curriculum changes emphasizing career advising, career-relevant coursework, curricula enrichment, and fieldwork. Urges that career…

This article presents an empirical basis for the relationship between reading and writing, a theoretical socio-historical model of teaching and learning that highlights the purposeful nature of both reading and writing as creating meaning, and instructional strategies for creating literacy events that promote learning-disabled students'…

Explores the relationship between the theoretical study of institutionalized varieties of English (IVEs) and their application in teacher training programs. It is argued that, although there is a nascent awareness of IVEs, a monomodal paradigm based on native-speaker norms remains firmly entrenched among teachers and in most teacher-training…