This paper describes the use of educational research and development resources by practitioners within the National Education Association's Mastery in Learning Project (MIL), a 5-year national second wave reform effort. Four research questions were addressed: (1) What are practitioners' information needs over time in the context of research-based school reform? (2) From where did practitioners' information come? (3) To what extent were the practitioners satisfied with the information they received? and (4) What are practitioners' information needs for the future? Data sources include documentation of materials mailed to practitioners in 24 of MIL's schools, annual reports from each school, computer network activity analysis, and the results of an information-use survey. Practitioners' need for research and development was categorized by teaching function. Results indicate that 21% were concerned with the executive functions, 14% with the interactive functions, and 66% with the organizational functions of teaching. The extent to which practitioners' information came from three Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) sources was reported to be "none" for 52%, "some" for 30%, "a lot" for 3%, and "most" for .77%. Implications are: (1) teachers consider educational improvement to be primarily affected by changes in the school-wide organization; (2) teachers have great confidence in the wisdom of practice and rely principally on each other for information on topics of concern; and (3) the computer network shows potential for linking that practical wisdom with research findings. Data are presented in 15 tables and five figures, and instruments used in the study are appended. (19 references) (GL)