This evaluation of the information dissemination program of the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST) uses a inclusive approach to gather, analyze, and report information to help decision makers. Results of three questionnaires, reviews and analyses of CRESST products, and Internet records were used to…

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…

The Program of Research and Evaluation for Public Schools (PREPS) model is unique because all research and evaluation activities are conceived, conducted, and controlled by the local public schools, members of the consortium. It is a delivery system designed to improve school effectiveness. PREPS was developed as a result of the demand for school…

This report contains highlights of findings and major conclusions of a task force investigating the impact of research, development, and field activities of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). The various data gathering activities and their results are summarized in Section A. Data collection efforts involved questionnaires sent…

This report presents results of a critical analysis of 20 regional educational laboratories and nine university research and development centers established under ESEA Title IV. Observations, supported by specific examples, are made concerning the laboratories and centers and deal with their roles, programs definitions, impact on educational…

As a follow-up to 1985 and 1991 efforts to determine its own effectiveness in providing useful information to the college community, the Office of Institutional Research (OIR) at Florida's Miami-Dade Community College conducted a self-evaluation in 1994. Questionnaires were mailed to 296 department chairs, Board members, and other professionals…

An evaluation of the Research and Development Centers and the Regional Educational Laboratories of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) was conducted by an outside analyst brought in in September 1991 by then Assistant Secretary Diane Ravitch. The Research and Development Centers have been one of the primary sources of…

This document presents 12 seminar papers describing research and development efforts in self-instructional programs being undertaken in six countries: the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Jamaica, Liberia, and Canada. The following are topics covered in the individual papers: research and development activities in primary schools; the technology…

Actual and potential relationships between evaluators and linkers--curriculum or management specialists who disseminate the products of evaluation to school districts--were explored. Evaluation and linkage evolved as distinct educational occupations, stimulated by federal involvement in research, development, and school improvement since the early…

This book contains a series of articles which grow out of the assumption that American public schools and teacher-training institutions can and will renew themselves and adapt to the needs of a changing society. A further assumption is that an emerging new discipline -- educational development -- can play a catalytic role in the change process…

The Instructional Planning Team is based on the Research and Instruction Unit of the Wisconsin R & D Center for Cognitive Learning. To determine if the IPT as an organizational arrangement would increase the ability of a group of classroom teachers to use research-based information to improve their instructional program, a pilot test was conducted…