Historical views about individuals and communities shape the ways that researchers interact with people and their communities. The European settlers thought of Native Americans as savages in need of socialization. Accordingly, the first researchers had little concern for the needs of Native people and their communities and sought to impose Western…

This article proposes that research into special educational needs has to explore the meaning of the phrase "special needs" and the values that underpin this phrase. It concludes this process will entail the development of new forms of inquiry, new ways of working, and new ways of thinking about research. (Contains 2 references.) (Author/CR)

Educational researchers are not engaged in discovering mechanistic universal truths sought by positivists or tidy prescriptions about what works. Instead, they provide guidelines and interpretive material to liberate the teacher's intelligence so that the teacher can use whatever ability he or she can achieve. (SLD)

Typically, teacher research is conducted because teachers want to have some questions answered. Starting effective teacher research begins by framing the question in a way that will yield the best research. Three important suggestions when framing teacher research questions are as follows: the question needs to be open ended enough to allow…

This article summarizes the breadth, diversity, and significance of the international movement to recognize, prepare, and learn from teachers as researchers from three interrelated standpoints: curriculum improvement, professional critique, and societal reform. A derivative of action research, teacher research from a curriculum improvement stance…

The experience of the speaker is applied to the changes he has seen in the field of testing over his career. Many of the concepts, issues, and controversies engaging the educational research community today had already been identified at the beginning of the speaker's career in the 1930s. A review of the literature of the past 50 years reveals one…

Domains of faculty research development are considered, with attention to various scholarly activities such as publishing in journals, editing books/monographs, publishing book reviews, and delivering papers at professional meetings. A cognitive map of faculty development is presented that incorporates findings from the literature on the sociology…

A causal model of faculty research productivity was developed through a survey of the literature. Models of organizational behavior, organizational effectiveness, and motivation were synthesized into a causal model of productivity. Two general types of variables were assumed to affect individual research productivity: institutional variables and…

Academic perspectives are reviewed for consultation in substance abuse within four general issues: consultation paradigms, research consultation and psychology, sources for consultation, and academic issues. The mental health/crisis intervention model is the most common consultation paradigm. Most consultation research in the substance abuse area…

The Hofstra University program in applied research and evaluation in psychology is described as an example of one model for training evaluators. The training of psychologists with a specialization in evaluation research is reviewed, and the pros and cons of evaluation research training within psychology are discussed. Several potential benefits of…

There are currently the following types of teacher thinking: (1) Preconception and Implicit Theories; (2) Planning and Reflection; and (3) Dilemmas and Uncertainty. Teacher educators should consult with researchers and ask better questions of themselves and their arts in order to better prepare teachers. (Author/BJV)

Deals with research at the Institute for Educational Research (Jyvaskyla, Finland) during the 1970s and compare it with other educational research in Finland during the period. Emphasis of institute activity was on primary education, with a considerable amount of research on higher education. Future research needs are noted. (MH)

This report highlights key studies, salient findings, and the significance of research supported by the National Reading Research Center (NRRC), which was charged to conduct research on reading instruction appropriate for prekindergarten through 12th-grade learning environments. The first chapter of the report elaborates on a foundation principle…

This paper presents a summary of four research projects implemented by teachers who are graduate students and underlines paradoxes faced by each on how to grapple with the difficulty of reconciling the top-down change approach that their university program trains them in with the bottom-up approach called action research. The tensions created by…

Women pursuing scientific careers in higher education institutions confront discouraging patterns of training and unfair employment practices. Numerous studies and evaluations are outlined including: the U.S. Senate's Women in Science and Technology Equal Opportunity Bill, a study by the Evaluation and Training Institute of Los Angeles, and a…