As part of an 8-year study of education reform in rural Kentucky, this report examines the primary program that has evolved in six rural elementary schools as a result of the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA), which requires that grades K-3 be replaced by a nongraded program. This change aimed to eliminate failure in the first 2 years of…

This Policy Research Brief explores the strengths of qualitative research and the types of information it can make available to policymakers concerned with issues affecting persons with disabilities. The naturalistic methodology employed in qualitative research is described. Three specific studies using qualitative methodology are excerpted and…

The six chapters of this special issue focus on how and why educational research is, or is not, used by its intended audiences of policymakers, practitioners, and other educational researchers. Texts that accept the more traditional notions of research knowledge precede the more radical visions in this collection. (SLD)

Two articles explore possibilities for collaboration between American and Asian researchers addressing disabilities in a worldwide context. The first article, by Mike Miles, is titled "Using Action-Oriented Disability Studies in Pakistan." It focuses on how information can be disseminated in informal, nontraditional (non-Western) ways.…

This policy brief reports on a study of how families and agencies cope with growing waiting periods for community services for adults who have mental retardation or developmental disabilities (MR/DD). Preliminary information looks at reasons for long waits, characteristics of families waiting for services, and impact of adult members with MR/DD on…