Special educators are urged to use research findings to inform their instruction in order to improve student outcomes. However, it can be difficult to tell whether and how research findings apply to one's own students. In this article, we discuss how special educators can consider the samples and the sampling methods in studies to examine the…

This paper addresses a relatively unexplored area in the field of learning analytics: how analytics are taken up and used as part of teaching and learning processes. Initial steps are taken towards developing design knowledge for this "middle space," with a focus on students as analytics users. First, a core set of challenges for…

The Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR) at the University of Chicago was founded in 1990, two years after the passage of the Chicago School Reform Act that decentralized governance of the city's public schools. Since then, CCSR has distinguished itself as a unique organization, conducting research of high technical quality that is…

Investigation of scientists' actual processes of conducting research can provide us with more realistic aspects of scientific inquiry. This study was performed to identify three aspects of scientists' actual research: their motivations for scientific inquiry, the scientific inquiry skills they used, and the main types of results obtained from…

The concern that educational research is often divorced from the problems and issues of everyday teaching practice, is strongly influenced by the chosen paradigm in which the research is framed. Modelled on design-based research methods, this paper presents the development of a theoretical research framework that accommodates complex…

On the premise that legal research in mass communication should be scientific and grounded in theory based upon available knowledge about how the world works, it is argued in this paper that the research paradigm used by most communication-law scholars is inadequate. In the first section of the paper the current, "institution-centered"…

Claims that the importance of gaining information literacy skills is in the use of information rather than the finding of information but that many students undertaking research projects do not understand this. Describes a research process model developed for use in a classroom setting and gives a sample lesson using its steps: presearch, search,…

Provides a brief review of test-wiseness research and discusses a model of direct instruction as an alternative to reading comprehension test-wiseness instruction. (FL)

What types of instructional experiences help K-8 students learn science with understanding? What do science educators, teachers, teacher leaders, science specialists, professional development staff, curriculum designers, and school administrators need to know to create and support such experiences? "Ready, Set, Science!" guides the way with an…

Described is a model for teaching elementary school science based on the generative view of learning: that meaning is created by the learner through mental processing that involves relating new input to existing ways of viewing the world. How curriculum researchers can help teachers implement this model is also discussed. (RM)

Suggests that conceptual models may bridge the gap between educational researchers and teachers. Discusses "models" in terms of explanatory theories, teachers' understanding of students, and students' understanding of mathematics. Considers Piaget's concept of accommodation and scheme theory. Argues that students must operate deliberately and…

A discussion of second language instruction looks briefly at some shortcomings of traditional method-based approaches and examines what are predicted to be major influences on language teaching in the 1990s. Objections to method-based instruction include the inadequacy of the term "method," its prescriptive approach, lack of distinction between…

Research based teaching strategies for improving the reading comprehension of mildly handicapped students include identifying learning goals, breaking goals into simpler units, ordering instruction developmentally, and teaching the use of metacognitive strategies for reading. (CB)

This final report of a reading instruction study examined teachers' use of research-based practices when teaching reading comprehension, as well as the barriers that prevent teachers from using such practices. Six schools in two school districts in a southwestern urban area were selected for intensive study; 39 teachers of grades 4-6 participated.…

This paper describes an instructional improvement approach which aims to assist educational systems to enhance their capabilities to plan and implement effective improvements in their basic skills programs, and illustrates how research on implementation and dissemination is used in the design and development of the approach. Four elements of the…