Despite the growing volume of research on data use systems or data use activities in which teachers engage, micro-process studies--investigations of what teachers and others actually do under the broad banner of "data use" or "evidence-based decision making"--remain substantially underdeveloped. Starting with a review of the…

The authors review some of the constructs provided by recent classroom language studies. By employing constructs from these studies to describe part of a classroom lesson, the authors illustrate one way to explore how classrooms work. They then list some cautions and recommendations about the use of classroom research for making policy decisions.…

The authors claim that the principal contribution of research on teacher thinking is enrichment of understanding of what teachers know and what teaching entails. Studies of teacher planning, decision making, knowledge, and theorizing can be used to provide prospective teachers with a realistically complex picture of the cognitive aspects of…

Although there is much scientific research available to guide educational decision making, decision making based on prevailing conventional wisdom continues. Five areas are conspicuous for relying on this type of decision making. First, grade retention has been shown in over 600 studies to be detrimental to the child, yet the conviction persists…