Reviews the status of educational anthropology. Argues that (1) anthropology's strength lies in understanding groups; (2) the complexity of the gap between a school and its community must be better understood; (3) anthropological research offers theoretical paradigms for understanding educational problems holistically; and (4) without significant…

This article explores the National Institute of Education's project on the use of research information to improve teacher education programs. The processes used to assist in producing change in 10 teacher education programs are discussed. (DF)

Education currently faces a crisis in curriculum reform which presents a danger to pedagogical programs. Changes in teacher education programs should be based on research and should be accomplished by a reflective and rational process. Methods of reform are explored. (DF)

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…

Two education initiatives in Ohio, the Pairwise Mentoring System and the Baldrige Approach for School Improvement, show promise for raising the achievement of K-12 students. As busy educational leaders who are expected to lead change efforts in their schools, preservice and inservice administrators can benefit by seeing the connections between new…

Suggests ways in which school personnel can keep abreast of current educational research. (MKM)

Research serves several purposes in institutional renewal. Good research ideas can clarify questions, force issues, rationalize debate, vitalize the change process, and justify new departures. Successful tactics for change require clear definition of research activities and campuswide support. (Author/MSE)

Questionnaires returned by 92 of 127 British teacher-researchers and interviews with 12 revealed the following: (1) sharing of findings was hindered by the individualistic culture of teaching; (2) teacher-researchers preferred working within the system to effect change; and (3) the values and processes of teacher research can create a more…

Factors that have slowed progress in middle grades reform include (1) emphasizing school-level, structural changes, such as merging curricular areas and instructional assignments, which do little to change the experience of students; and (2) basing reform more on rhetoric than research. Reviews the articles in this special issue, which seeks to…

Staff development is crucial in educational reform. The Readings in Educational Research (RER) project emerged out of a need for teacher-researcher communication, providing packets of original research reports in areas of interest to teachers. Teacher study groups using RER indicated they found RER a very positive experience. (SM)

This report describes Ohio's school restructuring efforts under the No Child Left Behind Act, including findings from interviews with state officials and case studies of nine schools in four school districts: Cincinnati Public Schools, Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Mansfield City Schools, and Mount Vernon City Schools. Key findings from…

A proposal is presented for attracting, retaining, and motivating effective educators and increasing student performance in Arizona. Written by the Arizona Education Association, the proposal targets three areas crucial to effective education: (1) professional growth and evaluation; (2) school environment; and (3) compensation. Part one of this…

It is not likely that the schools as presently organized and conducted and with the prevailing model of change employed for their improvement can be redesigned to meet satisfactorily the wide and varied range of expectations for them. The schools are suffering from a confusing array of expectations and a crippling overload of functions. Our…

Various educational practices resulting from research recommendations and the associated problems are described. The author suggests that educational research can create a more reliable foundation for policy decisions concerning the introduction of reforms, by evaluating their resulting effectiveness. Investigators should suggest more pertinent…

Selected research dissemination practices in California were examined to discover how teacher educators use research findings to educate classroom teachers. Experiences with both inservice and preservice teacher educators are discussed. (DF)