Examines the state of educational policy analysis, discussing the field's history, conceptual approaches to policy, areas of policy that have been studied, and methodological issues. Concludes with speculation on the future of policy research. (MCG)

Reviews research concerning sustained silent reading and lists factors that are important in determining whether such a reading program is successful. (FL)

Current psychological research data do not support the Social Security Administration's (SSA) decision regarding eligibility for psychiatric disability benefits. Structured work evaluation--a procedure allowed but not endorsed by SSA policies--is the best predictor of a person's ability to work. (CMG)

This paper reviews research on the classification of students with learning disability (LD). It first examines the evolution of LD definitions and the evidence for three components of LD classification: discrepancy, heterogeneity, and exclusion. It suggests that classification hypotheses involving discrepancy and exclusion have weak validity and…

The focus of this book is major educational innovations, that is, programs and curricula that have achieved widespread influence. It presents such fundamentals as definitions, descriptions, theoretical and empirical bases, critical analyses, and conclusions from published research. (The book discusses only published research.) Titles of the 15…

This paper reviews the literature concerning school-wide discipline systems. It examines strategies suggested by experts, the effectiveness of these systems, and research indicating promising school-wide discipline practices. Only systems containing proactive or positive school-wide procedures were considered in the review of 34 articles. The…

Examines factors that might explain the increased interest in research on school effectiveness; summarizes three articles that deal with school improvement and effectiveness research; and stresses the importance of using exceptional schools' research in developing school improvement strategies. (MJL)

In an attempt to understand why the promise of educational innovation has not been realized, educational innovation, its ideological and paradigmatic underpinnings, and the major stages of the innovation process are critically examined. The centrality of power and the generation of correspondence and contradiction as key analytical concepts are…

Part of a special issue on organizational research utilization, this article reviews 27 empirical studies on the utilization of social science research. Its conceptual framework for utilization includes action generation, information processing, affective bonding, and strategy formulation and control. The authors identify 3 types of utilization…

An annotated bibliography lists journal articles and ERIC documents dealing with the use of educational research in teacher education. (CJ)

The author considers reasons for the time delay between research findings and classroom application, examines research on teaching math and spelling to the learning disabled (LD) student, and reviews the status of the controversy over process or modality training for LD students. (CL)

Assisted by a team of physicians and sports scientists, the United States Ski Team has developed its own sports medicine program, the purpose of which is to assist coaches and athletes in controlling and optimizing factors which influence skiing performance. A number of biomechanical research projects which have been undertaken as part of this…

Studies about how schools improve indicate that the process of improvement happens simultaneously on two levels: the individual teacher level and the level of the school as an organization. Staff development, networking, and problem-centered activities are current approaches found promising for school improvement. (Author/MLF)

The process of reporting evaluation results is described in terms of communications theory. Results of several simulated studies of factors which influence the credibility of evaluators and reports are summarized, and implications are discussed. (Available from: Jossey-Bass, Inc., 433 California St., San Francisco, CA 94104, single issue, $6.95.)…

This article reviews how tutoring systems have been applied across specialized subject areas (e.g., music, horticulture, health and safety, social interactions). It summarizes findings, provides an analysis of skills learned within each tutoring system, identifies the respective methodologies, and reports relevant findings, implications, and…