This brief report summarizes the staff development benefits that occurred as a result of teachers participating in the Research and Development Utilization Program (RDU). Surveys of 540 teachers revealed the five most frequently cited staff development benefits to be: (1) learning more about curriculum development; (2) learning more about the…

In this paper, the authors describe a research study being carried out in a Pennsylvania school district as a means of demonstrating the role of research in administrative decisionmaking. The research began when the district requested the assistance of the authors in initiating a program of change in the district. The change approach used in the…

This booklet, drawing from research on intergroup relations, presents classroom teachers with those items which promise to be the most help to them. Research advances in intergroup relations are briefly discussed, while major portions of the booklet examine basic concepts in intragroup relations and intergroup concepts of particular significance…

Research that provides a detailed analysis of college instructor expressiveness indicates that it influences student achievement and perceptions of teacher control in the classroom, but not for all students or in all classrooms. This body of research can contribute to development of models for classroom instruction. (MSE)

Focuses on the challenges educators have encountered in translating comprehension-strategies instruction research into workable, school-based interventions and, ultimately, into classroom practice. Research indicates teachers worry about the feasibility, fit, and scope of comprehension-strategies instruction. The need for technical and conceptual…

The perspectives of 241 multi-discipline early interventionists were elicited by asking them to describe three wishes they would make to change early intervention to ensure quality services. With few exceptions, practitioner perspectives conflicted with accepted early intervention best practices such as family-centered interventions or provision…

New constructivist approaches to teaching and learning are at odds with much of what teachers believe. Four questionable sets of beliefs that may be obstacles to adopting a constructivist approach to teaching and learning are reviewed. Real educational reforms will require changes in many teacher ideas. (SLD)

As a follow-up to 1985 and 1991 efforts to determine its own effectiveness in providing useful information to the college community, the Office of Institutional Research (OIR) at Florida's Miami-Dade Community College conducted a self-evaluation in 1994. Questionnaires were mailed to 296 department chairs, Board members, and other professionals…

Research Ideas for the Classroom is a three-volume series of research interpretations for early childhood, middle grades, and high school mathematics classrooms. Each volume looks at research from the perspective of the learner, the content, and the teacher, and chapters are co-authored by a researcher and a teacher. Chapter titles in the high…

Ten strategies used to facilitate use of research to inform practice in urban schools are reviewed in this digest. The strategies are: (1) using ongoing, building-based staff development (SD) programs to translate instructional research into practice; (2) planning SD programs collaboratively with district personnel to ensure their relevance to…

Five research studies on teacher planning are reviewed to discover how basic descriptive research can inform the practice. Seven findings are discussed: (1) Planning is important to teachers and generally invisible to everyone else; (2) Planning differs in practice from traditional prescriptions for planning; (3) Planning during the first weeks of…

Analysis is made in this document of three types of information solicited from faculty members in schools, colleges and departments of education (SCDEs): (1) demographic data descriptive of the faculty population as a whole; (2) faculty perceptions about institutional missions, organizational arrangements, and activities and products relating to…

Curriculum reformers in the United Kingdom who have expressed concern with the failure of the research, development, and diffusion model to implement inquiry/discovery learning have tended to offer a problem-solving approach to foster innovation at the classroom level. This approach is illustrated in the Ford Teaching Project, sponsored by the…

Results of a questionnaire on instructional leadership administered to elementary school principals and teachers in California confirmed literature findings that instructional leadership behavior significantly influences student achievement. The study sought to determine (1) the 29 most important instructional leadership behaviors through…

The purpose of this journal, addressed specifically to educators, is to describe, introduce, or translate results of research and development work funded by the National Institute of Education. The first article examines two secondary schools that are undertaking comprehensive efforts to improve their practices with help from the Wisconsin…