This commentary describes an action research project conducted by selected staff at the Northern Valley Regional High School District in New Jersey. The project focused on the idea of developing a synchronous classroom to provide world language learning opportunities to students. Relevant research is provided as are ideas regarding logistics and…

The current, conventional approach to research does little to strengthen scholars' participation in civic life. However, models of research that promote more democratic inquiry methods, more reciprocal relationships between researchers and their subjects, and new collaborations between research institutions and communities are emerging and being…

This paper describes the National Reading Research Center (NRRC), a federally funded center that intends to carry out research to discover what promotes readers' engagement in literacy activities, foster their critical thinking and strategic learning, and prepare them to meet the challenges of a technological age. The paper describes the mission…

There appears to have been no coherent movement of rural adult education in the United States since the area was first surveyed in the 1930s. Such problems exist as fragmentation, a lack of communication across efforts, and a lack of continuity in time. There does not even appear to be adequate information on the nature and scope of the enterprise…

Research on the use of knowledge resources in school improvement efforts explores the ways in which new ideas, programs, practices, materials, and technologies become incorporated into the operations of the nation's elementary and secondary schools, and examines the changes these organizations undergo in the process. Attempts at disseminating…

A University of Canberra (Australia) program pairs new researchers with experienced researchers as mentors. Mentoring is supplemented with a workshop on research skills and on researchers' issues, questions, and projects. Participants benefitted from support of mentors and other peers. Mentors assisted participants with specific aspects of their…

Several of the new agricultural universities in India have identified a special need to improve their communication capabilities through the better use of the mass media and other channels to narrow the communication gap between agricultural scientists, educators, and farmers. This paper discusses the basic concept, goals, administration,…

Summarizes four projects that attempt to use cultural resources for instruction, each in a unique way. Suggests that these projects serve as catalysts to challenge the status quo by creating conditions and activities for novel uses of literacy. Highlights the important mediating functions of literacy, especially in two languages, in helping…

The first two years' experience at the Waterford School are described by an administrator and a parent. Waterford is a private, nontuition school conducted as the major activity of an educational institute dedicated to research, innovation, and the application of advanced technologies such as microcomputers and videodiscs to education and…

Descriptions of 10 college programs involving collaborative learning are presented, along with Karen T. Romer's essay, "Collaboration: New Forms of Learning, New Ways of Thinking." The essay identifies various kinds of collaborative learning as well as the benefits of collaborative models. The following programs and schools are…

This article reviews six programs that have applied anthropological concepts, methods, and research to implementing change in American schools, school districts, and communities. The programs are: (1) the West Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Free School, an experimental alternative education program that emphasizes freedom, individualized instruction,…

Proceedings of a 1980 workshop on industry/university cooperative programs are presented. Program presentations and authors include: "On Industry/Academia Relations" (T. Baron); "The MIT Liaison Program" (J. D. Bruce); "An Industrial Perspective of Academic Programs" (R. Fuller); "University/Industry Interactions…

A model of service learning that can serve as a vehicle for teaching, research, and community service is suggested to college faculty. Two such projects are described: a project providing parent education to young families while researching effectiveness of temperament education, and an intergenerational program to determine whether community…

This part of the Australian newsletter from the National Clearinghouse on the Transition from School to Work is organized into eight sections. Following a description of the clearinghouse in the first section, the newsletter contains two sections of brief descriptions of current research projects and news items. In the fourth section, three books…

We reflect on methodological issues arising in two of our own research projects as a form of practice, as a way of engaging in a praxis of project research. The projects chosen for this purpose are themselves concerned with teacher education and curriculum development in environmental education: they include participatory "reflective…