The article "Getting lost in translation" by Harris, Chapman, Muijs and Reynolds addresses the engagement of policy-makers and educational practitioners with (the results of) educational effectiveness and improvement research. In this commentary the article is discussed from the perspectives of research utilisation, the solidity of the…

The authors examine barriers to disseminating research knowledge to parents of handicapped children, stress the importance of researchers communicating to parents, and suggest ways to improve dissemination efforts.

Argues that the personal commitments of teachers, common sense, and normative requirements can be valid bases for action. Asserts that overreliance on research knowledge is unwarranted: its value lies primarily in the scientific ethos and in processes of inquiry and only secondarily in the facts researchers lay claim to. (Author/KH)

This article first assesses the existing "state of awareness of the research to practice gap" among 111 preservice educators. It then discusses the potential benefits associated with the improvement of this knowledge and describes a variety of programmatic options, structural and instructional, that may enhance preservice educators' knowledge,…

This paper contrasts research knowledge and practice knowledge in special education; describes factors that moderate the influence of research on practice, including teacher knowledge and learning, teacher attitudes and beliefs, and context; and considers issues in reconceptualizing the relationship between research and practice in special…

Describes five dimensions of multicultural education, focusing on the knowledge construction process in order to show how the cultural assumptions, frames of reference, and perspectives of mainstream scholars and researchers influence the ways in which academic knowledge is constructed to legitimize institutionalized inequity. (Author/SLD)

What has been said about what teachers do and know is integrated into a theoretical framework for the education and assessment of teachers, addressing (1) why a theoretical framework is necessary; (2) what a comprehensive framework might be; and (3) how the proposed framework might be used. (SLD)

This paper explains why knowledge utilization has become so important and why so many perspectives on knowledge utilization exist. The field of research on knowledge utilization is immense and continues to grow rapidly. The reason for this, according to the paper, is that developed nations around the world are now in the so-called Knowledge Age.…

Educational research is distinctive inasmuch as it shares the moral objective of education, which is to help people make the best of themselves through processes of learning. Educational research is a service industry for education. As such, its contribution to the efficiency and effectiveness of educational processes can be increased by focusing…