In the field of medicine, research and practice are joined in teaching hospitals. In these institutions, researchers work alongside doctors to incorporate recent advances in medical research into practice and track results. There is a growing movement in the field of education to create analogous institutions in education called research schools.…

We are entering a new phase in learning about childhood disabilities. While we have found out much of what we need to know about their causes and aetiology, solutions to many of the challenges we will face in the future will come from the evidence base held by practitioners. Practitioners are ideally placed to carry out "real world" research but…

The Austin Independent School District's Research and Evaluation Office presents practical information concerning observational research. This paper focuses on five topics: (1) what makes a good observer (setting the ground rules, training observers in details, and practice, i.e., involving the observers in planning and providing rigorous…

This book explains the debates that bedevil education research--for example that it is low quality, or not scientific enough, or not useful enough--and shows how research in education must meet different demands in different places, times and conditions. A major part of the book provides detailed analyses and guidance to different areas in which…

Presents reasons why nations should participate in international survey research. Reviews the mission and history of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Discusses the design of a typical IEA study and includes five graphic figures and one table illustrating results of previous international surveys.…

Discusses administrative policies related to projects of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Describes a typical budget for an IEA project. Includes a figure illustrating a typical project timetable. (CFR)

Action research, a term first used in the 1940's by Kurt Lewin, implies the application of tools and methods of social science to immediate, practical problems, with the goals of contributing to theory and knowledge in the field of education and improving practice in the schools. Collaborative action research suggests that each group represented…

This book examines issues and methods for conducting research into the educational resource environment in colleges and universities. That environment is defined as whatever is used to facilitate the learning process, including learning space, support staff, and teaching staff. Chapter 1 is an introduction to the series and lays out the process of…

This final report describes a federally funded program that identified and then provided 2 years of training for minorities and women who had completed a doctorate but were not currently active in educational research. Program participants were selected from the distinct populations of: faculty from Morgan State University, Maryland, a…

This book examines issues in studying equal opportunity in colleges and universities, especially those in the United Kingdom, and methods for conducting research into equal opportunity issues. It is intended to provide a framework of ideas and starting points for research. Most of the techniques suggested are forms of participant research on a…