Examines the ways in which reflection leads to better decision making and better administration. Discusses the following three sources of knowledge available to administrators who choose to enhance their effectiveness through reflection: (1) theoretical; (2) empirical; and (3) experiential. Examines the integration of knowledge and action through…

Describes the composition and operation of the New American Schools Development Corporation (NASDC). The NASDC will design new high-performance learning environments for U.S. children. The seven design teams are to unveil new high-performance schools after two to three years, presumably by marketing designs. (SLD)

Offers a six-step campaign to improve education by applying research findings to practice. The steps are: (1) target important visible problems; (2) build a powerful, dedicated coalition with a prominent, credible leader; (3) staff the campaign; (4) assemble the right information; (5) launch the campaign; and (6) implement solutions. (DB)

This epilogue to a series of articles addressing changes in speech-language pathology practices, discusses the influence of evidence-based approaches to clinical services. A bibliography of readings addressing English and Spanish phonology, spelling, recent regulations and guidelines, and evidence-based research and practices is appended.…

With real-world examples from actual schools, this book illustrates how to nurture a culture of continuous improvement, meet the needs of individual students, foster an environment of high expectations, and meet the requirements of NCLB. Each component of the Data-Driven Instructional Leadership (DDIS) model represents several branches of…

This chapter describes how an action research framework facilitates using evaluation and assessment results to improve programs and demonstrate institutional effectiveness. (Contains 1 table.)

In 2002, the RAND Corporation launched a project to understand how educators are responding to the new accountability requirements in California, Georgia, and Pennsylvania--three states that represent a range of approaches, regions, and student populations. The researchers aimed to identify the factors that enhance the implementation of SBA…

Historically, teaching has been considered an art, not a science, and therefore not subject to scientific analysis. However, there now exists a body of knowledge and a fresh set of conceptions about teaching upon which to base teacher education. Recent and numerous advances in pedagogical knowledge can now be used to provide teacher education with…

The author describes her experiences as linking agent in aiding four local Massachusetts schools to examine, choose, and implement innovative reading programs. A process rather than content expert, her task was to organize existing, widespread support for change within the schools and to work with both the principals and a multiconstituent…

Argues that a greatly expanded attention given to futurism in educational institutions and an intensive, systematic use of futures research applied to educational policy making can go a long way toward meeting criticisms that education is backwards looking and resistant to change, and that education tends to develop an in-capacity for future…

Focusing on the problems of the federal role in education, the educational "competency" of federal programs, and the usefulness of research-based knowledge for educational practice, this report evaluates the Experimental Schools Program (ESP), a small federal program in the early 1970s that aimed to help poor and minority students by…

Focusing on whether and how research actually contributes to the formation of public policy, this paper explores the critical problems in the linkage between science production and the systems that formulate educational policy. The authors suggest that the utilization of social research is limited more by problems of integrating research into the…

Educational planning is presently confronted by an identity crisis. As long as it was believed that educational expansion was a principal ingredient for securing economic growth, democratic political processes, and greater equality of economics and social participation, the tenets and practice of educational planning were rarely questioned.…

In 1976 the National Institute of Education established the Research and Development Utilization (RDU) Program. This project was intended to apply research and development products to local school problems; to develop a problem-solving and product selection process usable by local schools and to organize a linkage system making national, state,…

As one of its institutional missions, the P.K. Yonge Laboratory School at the University of Florida focuses on the problem of utilization of research and development for the improvement of instruction. In an effort to reduce the time lag between the discovery of new information and the general adoption of practices based on that information, the…