Rapid reviews of research are a key way in which policy makers use research. This paper examines 74 rapid reviews commissioned by health policy agencies through the Sax Institute's Evidence Check programme. We examine what prompted policy makers to commission rapid reviews, their purpose, how and when they intended to use them, and how this varied…

Policy scoping reviews are an effective method for generating evidence-informed policies. However, when applying guiding methodological frameworks to complex policy evidence, numerous, unexpected challenges can emerge. This paper details five challenges experienced and addressed by a policy trainee-led, multi-disciplinary research team, while…

Background: Active Support (AS) is an approach for promoting increased engagement in activities by people with intellectual disability (ID). Method: We critically reviewed the available research on AS, and added a commentary to help guide future research and practice. Results: Despite weaknesses in the research design of some studies, there is…

Knowledge use and production is complex and so also are attempts to judge its quality. Research synthesis is a set of formal processes to determine what is known from research in relation to different research questions and this process requires judgements of the quality and relevance of the research evidence considered. Such judgement can be…

This paper makes a case that when teachers and school leaders (administrators) engage in site-based action research they become more efficacious leaders. This paper reviews eight years of research work of site-based research projects completed by school-based personnel as well as the experiences of teachers and school administrators who have…

This review paper identifies and captures the major themes from the ACER 2005 Research Conference, distilling ideas and information from the conference papers and also from conversations that took place during the conference. The paper also looks at what are claimed to be effective ways of using data to improve student learning in schools. How…

A study reviewed 88 doctoral dissertations written during a 4-year period in the 1980s on the use of feedback for performance improvement. The purpose was to sugget applications of the findings to teaching improvement in postsecondary education, and to determine the extent to which faculty development centers contribute to this research.…

This ongoing project, conducted in four municipalities in Sweden, is investigating the ways in which schools and teaching are affected by various local communities and the ways in which central directives are transformed into a local educational reality. A diverse range of data have been collected, including demographic data from the…

Analyzes Kenyan educational research conducted over the past 25 years. Examines choice of research topics, research methodologies, training of researchers, funding, and research utilization. Advocates more action and participatory research, greater regional cooperation and coordination, publishing findings in accessible sources, and greater…