Current research aiming to understand the gaps between research and practice in K-12 education often overlooks the importance of grasping the indirect relationships that develop between research and practice communities via the various people and organizations positioned to serve as knowledge brokers. The purpose of this study is to understand…

Improving performance is a high stakes undertaking for schools who are operating within highly prescriptive testing and inspection regimes and a dynamic policy environment requiring Senior Leaders to be innovative and well-informed regarding best practice both nationally and internationally. In this context there can be a tendency to fall back on…

Given the pace of their work, school administrators often find it difficult to sift through the massive volume of primary academic research produced each year to find specific pieces that might be useful to inform their practice. In response to this issue, the author developed and implemented a strategy to filter research for local relevance and…

Background: Within the realm of public education, there is a well-known "knowledge to practice gap" on current conceptions of classroom assessment. A collaborative research project undertaken by the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and a research team at Queen's University explored the roots of this gap from the…

With a view to bridging the gap between elementary (primary) and secondary school second language teachers and researchers, the study reported in this paper identified differences in language register, educators' lack of access to research articles and lack of shared space for researchers and educators to communicate as causes of the gap. There is…

A study examined 127 teachers' assessments of the trustworthiness, usability, and accessibility of intervention information obtained from other teachers or colleagues, workshops, college courses, and professional journals. Teachers generally rated their colleagues and workshops not only as more accessible but as providing more trustworthy and…

This is the fifth in a series of issue briefs to be written for The Center for Comprehensive School Reform and Improvement during 2006. In this brief, author Craig Jerald highlights research collected in the July 2005 special issue of the "Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk" to argue for collecting and using data to…

Analyzes Latin American educational research phases--the artisan and industrial. During the artisan phase (1950s-early 1970s), university scholars conducted isolated projects with limited access to information. Research centers, government supports, and information networks characterize the industrial period (post-mid 1970s). Argues information…