Data-informed instructional methods offer tremendous promise for increasing the effectiveness of teaching, learning, and schooling. Yet-to-be-developed data science approaches have the potential to dramatically advance instruction for every student and to enhance learning for people of all ages. Next steps that emerged from a recent National…

School improvement without will and moral purpose--without a genuine commitment to all students--is an empty exercise in compliance that, in the authors' experience, can do more harm than good. The authors have seen educators use data to "more accurately" track students, further widening the opportunity-to-learn gap. In response to achievement…

This paper presents a rationale and suggestions for increasing the quality of and demand for research findings as a vital component of educational improvement efforts. Addresses issues of trustworthiness, useability, and accessibility and suggests ways to nurture demand for research among influence producers, knowledge producers, knowledge…

Research for Better Schools (RBS) is supporting improvement efforts in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. One form of this support is RBS's participation in collaborative projects to develop a system-wide, research-utilization approach to the improvement of basic skills instruction. Educational systems following the approach employ a staff…

Two questions are addressed: whether or not the revolutions in methodology realized in research have any real effect on classroom teaching and why there is a constant effort to find new methodologies. A new approach to the problem, focusing on changing the educational institutions themselves, is suggested. (MSE)

Offers a six-step campaign to improve education by applying research findings to practice. The steps are: (1) target important visible problems; (2) build a powerful, dedicated coalition with a prominent, credible leader; (3) staff the campaign; (4) assemble the right information; (5) launch the campaign; and (6) implement solutions. (DB)

Papers written by education graduate students for a class on instructional leadership are organized into four chapters. Chapter 1, "History of the Nature of Leadership: 1900-1981," examines the nature of leadership in education according to major historical events and their effects on educational supervision. Chapter 2, "Dynamic…

The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) was commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) to conduct a study of primary, secondary and special maintained schools in England to assess the use of data in teaching and learning. The study sought to identify how data is used to promote learning in primary, middle,…

Current theory and law support a comprehensive model of school reform. The Comprehensive School Reform Demonstration Program suggests that changes in isolated parts of a system may not be linked to increases in overall achievement. A comprehensive reform program must synthesize nine essential components to improve the whole system across all the…

Argues that incorporating research into teaching intermediate macroeconomics can present challenging material to students thereby increasing their critical and evaluative thinking. Recommends sacrificing advanced textbook topics, historical perspectives on theories and policies, and current debates in favor of theoretical insights and empirical…

Implementing new instructional strategies and programs is a challenging task, and the need for teacher renewal and updating is apparent when the advances in literacy research in recent years and the increasing gap between this knowledge and the training of most teachers are considered. Among the obstacles to teacher change are short-term inservice…

Argues teachers must be able to correctly interpret and evaluate research design and results to effectively use research to improve instruction. Offers five guidelines for teachers to consider before changing teaching methods in response to research results. Favors longitudinal and cross-sectional studies for best long-term results from…

This report synthesizes the findings of four studies that focused on school districts as the center of focus for school-improvement efforts. The studies did not examine school systems that had been high performing for a long time; rather, they took their data from districts serving high percentages of students who typically struggle but were…

This issue presents two articles on the use of data to improve results for students with disabilities. The first paper examines how researchers supported by the Office of Special Education Programs are discovering innovative uses of scientifically derived information in instructional and administrative decision making as well as strategies for…

This report highlights the research on how schools across the country have successfully transformed themselves into high-performing schools. It provides suggestions for how school leaders can use this knowledge base as they examine their schools' instructional and administrative practices. Chapter titles reflect the contents: (1)…