Discusses the following aspects of educational evaluation: (1) structural changes; (2) conceptual changes; (3) mixed methods and unraveling consensus; (4) utilization of findings; (5) the role of values; and (6) the role of politics. Discusses how evaluation moved from monolithic to pluralistic, reflecting the change from consensus to pluralism in…

Discusses the impact of glasnost and perestroika on Soviet educational reform. Reviews trends in the following areas: (1) the form and content of education; (2) the role of teachers; (3) the structure and mission of educational research; and (4) the effects of political movements on the educational system. (FMW)

Questions that beginning educational researchers and evaluators will have to answer are discussed concerning: (1) which intellectual tradition to select; (2) the roles of basic and theoretical inquiry; (3) qualitative and quantitative distinctions; (4) the theory-practice relationship; (5) political influences; and (6) the correct emphasis on…

Surveys 32 officials of federal agencies and educational researchers to express historically grounded judgments on issues in educational research, including the poor reputation of the field. Criticisms that recur are that it does not pay off, that the community is in disarray, and that the field is politicized. (SLD)

Discusses declining Federal support for educational programs under the Reagan administration and identifies inconsistencies in Federal arguments to support current educational funding policy. Challenges researchers to provide an analytical framework within which policymakers concerned with the financing and direction of education would be…

A historical case study of the construction and reconstruction of race between the late 19th century and the 1940s is used to document the ways in which the social, cultural, political, and historical contexts in which knowers are embedded influence the knowledge they construct and reconstruct. (Author/SLD)

Comments on specific points raised by E. W. Eisner, F. Erickson, and T. S. Popkewitz. Argues that the author's previous article does not support methodological monism. It is an assertion that some version of educational trial (clinical trial metaphor) is required to evaluate the usefulness of educational research. (SLD)

F. Schrag is preoccupied with enhancing education, but who decides what enhancement is? He has confused positivism with empiricism. Positivism is a specific philosophical movement that is associated with logical positivism. The empiricism that Schrag labels positivism preceded the philosophic traditions. (SLD)

Discusses three narratives about the history, status, and future of educational researchers. The prevailing collective self-portrait portraying researchers as social scientists with autonomy is contrasted with views of limited autonomy and the author's narrative of enhanced professionalism through research texts about people in the schools. (SLD)

Reviews the debate over multicultural education, and illustrates the roots of the debate between multiculturalists and Western traditionalists. A typology of knowledge is presented; and it is argued that each type should be part of curriculum at elementary school, secondary school, and higher levels. (SLD)

Presents highlights from a conversation via BITNET on education policy and priorities for the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. The electronic discussion took place over 3 weeks with approximately 700 participants. Themes of balancing kindergarten through grade 12 education and higher education and the government's role in research…

Illustrates the importance of studying educational policy in the making with instances of multicultural history-social studies curriculum policymaking in California and New York in the context of movements for national standards and assessments and possibly a national curriculum. Attempts by neo-nativists to influence policymaking are discussed.…

Discusses ways of approaching text and textbooks as embodiments of a larger process of cultural politics, focusing on the analysis of the relationships involved in their production, contexts, use, and reading. Newer forms of analysis that emphasize the politics of how students actually create meanings around texts are reviewed. (SLD)

Dialog between the authors addresses multiculturalism from a critical perspective and reminds educational researchers that research is always about political representation. It is argued that researchers may have inadvertently created the populations they study because of the controlling cultural mode of their own research. (SLD)

Suggests that educational researchers need to (1) expand schooling beyond the narrow interests of the marketplace; (2) view multiculturalism as central to democracy; (3) refuse to equate nationalism and monoculturalism; and (4) substitute community, solidarity, and public responsibility for emphasis on choice and individual competitiveness. (SLD)