The success of Philadelphia's "What Works in Reading?" report shows how educational research can be a catalyst for school change and indicates a way for school districts to institutionalize this process. Ten factors were associated with the report's immediate impact on educational policy: identification of the research clients, topical…

The popularity of using qualitative, or ethnographic, research methods to improve educational practices is increasing. However, an examination of how research findings are translated into policy is necessary to assess accurately the extent to which this goal can be realized. This paper assesses the efficiency of four strategies for increasing…

In the midst of insistent demands for accountability, self-analysis by all educational institutions has become an urgent necessity. Long-range, comprehensive planning is an essential prerequisite for coping effectively with the rapid changes taking place in education, and institutional research is an essential element in such planning. For an…

Some 3,000 proposals submitted for Research Grants in Education and Small Grants, two of the major topic areas in the 1973 Field Initiated Studies (FIS) program of the National Institute of Education (NIE), are analyzed in this report to identify research features which seemed to receive priority emphasis and to describe some of the methodological…

Use of the results of investigator-initiated research in dental health services policy and administration, and the relationship between the researcher and decision making or implementation based on his findings, are examined. (MSE)

This document records responses by University of California President Richard C. Atkinson to questions posed by the California Citizens Commission on Higher Education regarding issues and challenges facing California's colleges and universities. Responses indicated that (1) state funding constraints make access to education the principal policy…

This paper describes the experiences of Colorado Springs School District Eleven in using multiple measures to determine if third graders were reading at "grade level." The use of multiple measures may be threatened by the rapidly increasing pressures about assessment and accountability in Colorado that teachers are beginning to feel that…

The new "collaborative movement" to involve teachers in educational research is mildly reformist but, if research is to have a progressive influence on educational studies, it must do more than produce information on educational processes. It should be concerned with the parameters of educational thought and strive to redefine issues.…

Describes three major categories of polarities in research attitudes and practices: (1) attitudes about research and who should conduct it, (2) impressions of what research is, and (3) conceptions about research methods and findings. Calls for moderating the polarizations for a more balanced view and more productive business communication…

The paper focuses on problems science educators and researchers must face before the advantage of paradigms can be realized. Examples of the role of paradigms in physics research are presented. A critique of paradigm use in physics is presented. Future variations of paradigms for science education are discussed. (Author/RE)

Several theorists have categorized distance education as an industrial process. Most institutional research can be seen as contributing to this process. This is especially true in the following areas: market research, organization and methods studies, quality control research, the research activities that are components of management information…

On the continuum along which theories of first and second language acquisition are located, the two extremes represent the classic controversy of nature (nativist) vs. nurture (environmentalist), while those in the middle view language acquisition as a result of a more or less balanced interaction between innate capacities and linguistic…

Indicators that the prospects for meaningful curricular reform are not optimistic are developed in this paper. The first premise is that research on curricular reform has been limited in its applicability to practitioner concerns. Another dilemma in the translation of research on curricular reform for practitioners is the continuing wide gap in…

This paper presents research findings that suggest a framework for developing essential support systems for beginning teachers, and describes two induction-year pilot projects, now in operation, based on those findings. One project is a Master's level course instituted in August 1987 at the Univesity of Houston; the other is a program…

Educational research and evaluation have had less impact on policy and decision making in education than hoped for, since research and evaluation represent fundamentally different kinds of endeavor than policy and decision making do. Evaluation has more impact than research because it is a more administrative activity and is more integral to…