Using findings from research and evaluation is essential to facilitate evidence-informed decision making across the adult learning and skills sector. This is especially pertinent at a time of rapid and far reaching change in how adult education is funded, commissioned and delivered. It is important to understand how and in what ways evidence is…

The relationship between master's thesis work and teachers' professional development has rarely been explored empirically, yet. Drawing upon a larger study, this paper investigates how teachers who were studying for or who have recently graduated from Master of Education programmes offered in five countries -- Poland, Portugal, England, Latvia,…

In this article, we describe and evaluate a research utilization initiative designed to bridge the teaching English as a second language (TESL) research-practice gap by fostering the formation of and supporting professional learning communities (PLCs) in adult ESL instructional contexts. We review literature on teachers' professional reading,…

With the passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) of 2014, Northampton Community College began the creation of Integrated Education and Training (IE&T) programs in October 2015. After a needs assessment was conducted with the partners, programs were created to address the needs in the hospitality and healthcare sectors.…

This paper introduces institutional ethnography (IE) as a useful and systematic process for examining organizations and work data through the lens of stakeholders, at different levels, and considering the different forces at play. Drawing from ethnomethodology, IE focuses on how everyday experience is socially organized. Ideological shifts have…

In this brief article, Cristine Smith discusses the development and use of professional development activities at the national, state and local program level. Professional development systems and funding exist in every state, and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) has prioritized high-quality professional development for…

This paper summarises findings from several systematic research reviews about the contribution of research to effective continuing professional development and learning (CPDL) activities and their impact on pupils and teachers. It starts with a review of how teachers engage in and with research as part of CPDL, how teachers and researchers shape…

Parents of children with autism face many challenges that arise from the practical, day-to-day issues of living with autism. The specific goals of this guide are to help parents: (1) find information about autism; (2) distinguish between research-based and non-research-based information; (3) become savvy consumers of information by giving them the…

Introduction: Better understanding of critically reflective work behavior (CRWB), an approach for work-related informal learning, is important in order to gain more profound insight in the continuing development of health care professionals. Methods: A survey, developed to measure CRWB and its predictors, was distributed to veterinary…

One of the greatest challenges in education today is to adapt and respond to a linguistically and culturally diverse world, and to combat social disintegration and discrimination. Participatory and collaborative action research represents an empowering and emancipatory approach to this challenge because the "target groups" become…

In the lead article, Persson (2012a) focuses on salient issues that have not as yet been addressed by others, and which are relevant, and germane. With the advent of the Internet and web and e-mail, conversation and discussion among scholars have increased tremendously. At the current time, researchers are able to share their data, their thoughts…

Design-based research (DBR) evolved near the beginning of the 21st century and was heralded as a practical research methodology that could effectively bridge the chasm between research and practice in formal education. In this article, the authors review the characteristics of DBR and analyze the five most cited DBR articles from each year of this…

A focus group of 49 teachers revealed that teachers do use research, but they seek it out under very specific conditions. They also use different criteria than researchers use to judge the quality of research. For teachers, important factors include an ethos of localized learning, a shortage of time, and the primacy of local context. Researchers…

Drawing on the authors' experience in the international Campbell Collaboration, this essay presents a principled and pragmatic approach to evidence-informed decisions about child welfare. This approach takes into account the growing body of empirical evidence on the reliability and validity of various methods of research synthesis. It also…

In this article, the author discusses how learning to effectively conduct, analyze, and present research has had an impact on her academic success, her ongoing development as an ESL teacher, and her proposals and protocols as the ESL department coordinator at an adult school in the Bay Area. The author triangulates these 3 areas of impact to…