The Research and Development Exchange (RDx) is a network of eight regional educational laboratories, one university-based research and development center, and a consortium of seven state education agencies working to support state and local school improvement efforts. The RDx has four goals, designed to support dissemination and school improvement…

Describes some projects of the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development and discusses how that research attempts to effect change in the processes of teaching and learning. (SK)

Discusses the need for new mechanisms and institutions to cope with crises brought about by rapid societal change. (GB)

This paper describes the need for a regional dissemination system; the conceptualization of the Southwest Educational Development Labortory (SEDL) Regional Exchange as part of the nation-wide Research and Development Exchange (RDx); and the operation of the SEDL Regional Exchange (RX). It emphasizes that the Research and Development Exchange is…

A series of 17 generalizations describes the educational research enterprise in the United States under four headings: Organizational patterns, training programs, dissemination techniques, and the relationship of research to practice. Eight summary statements outline the primary implications of these generalizations and define educational research…

The San Diego City Schools Research Cooperative is an attempt to integrate the work of practitioners, researchers, and community members to meet the individual needs of each group while providing programmatic, practical research findings to district officials. This paper discusses issues pertaining to the development of a research cooperative: the…

The changing role of research in curriculum development since the late 1950's is reviewed. Factors are discussed that have affected the prevailing attitudes toward research and its value, including its role in fields other than education and the mixed success with which various research and development models have met in education. Particular…

Decision-oriented inquiries emanate from a specific need for information and are conducted under a number of constraints. Conclusion-oriented research originates with the researcher and can be pursued in ways decided on by the researcher. Two examples of decision-oriented evaluation studies conducted by school districts and the relationships…

This paper contains a mission statement and overview of the National Center for Research in Vocational Education's (NCRVE) agenda for 1993. The first part outlines the goals and programs of NCRVE's six research and development areas: the economic context of vocational education; the institutional context of vocational education; curriculum and…

To further the National Institute of Education's goal of ensuring a coordinated and nationally linked outreach capability for providing schools with the knowledge and services generated through research and development (R&D), the nation's R&D centers developed an interorganizational and collaborative school improvement program known as the…

The University of Pittsburgh Program for the Study of Knowledge Use is conducting methodological research on knowledge use and school improvement. The Pittsburgh Program, established in 1978, is an interdisciplinary program designed to conduct research, provide instruction, and offer technical services. Specifically, the purposes of the program…

To talk about the dissemination of research is to talk about the relationship between theory and practice. A body of empirical and conceptual knowledge has accumulated in an area known as the dissemination and utilization of scientific knowledge. Researchers and practitioners will interact at two points: as the knowledge base is transferred, and…

To assist in local school improvement, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) has developed an approach in which teams of local educational leaders are made aware of the results of effective schooling research and are trained in the processes of change and improvement. Research reviews have shown specific elements of schooling at the…

THE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY BETWEEN PRODUCTION AND UTILIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE IS EMPHASIZED AS THE KEY ACTIVITY. THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN THE MID-1950'S BECAME ONE OF THE MOST VIGOROUS AND HOPEFUL PROTAGONISTS OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. THE ACTS PASSED AND THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTERS CREATED ARE NOTED AS AGENTS IN THIS NEW…

This paper addresses the problem of building the capacity for continuous renewal and reform in the educational system. The authors contend that the paradigm of R&D previously used has been too narrow, and that it is based on restrictive assumptions about how to help schools solve problems. They feel that any revised concept of "the…