The effective utilization of research and development products ranks as one of the top priorities in American public education. The document contains two concept papers by recognized authorities on knowledge utilization activities: A Diffusion Mechanism for the Center for Vocational and Technical Education, Egon G. Guba; and Alternative Diffusion…

This report contains a summary of research done at Alfred P. Sloan School of Management to study the information requirements associated with research and development activity under the headings: parallel projects, laboratory communication networks, characteristic costs of information channels, and interorganizational transfer of information.…

CHANGES IN ARMY TRAINING PROGRAMS AND PROCEDURES ARE DESCRIBED TO ILLUSTRATE INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE RESULTING FROM IMPLEMENTATION OF APPLIED RESEARCH. SERVING SINCE 1951 AS A RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY UNDER CONTRACT TO THE ARMY, THE HUMAN RESOURCES RESEARCH OFFICE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HAS IDENTIFIED INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE THROUGH…

The issue brief discusses technological principles, issues, and design features discovered or used by projects funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP). Information was obtained from interviews with project directors who were asked about their project experiences, the features and design principles essential to the success of…

The Council of Europe's Documentation Center for Education in Europe sponsored case studies of research and development information systems for education in Finland, France, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The resulting case studies are each divided into the following six sections: (1) the problem of information and documentation in…

The relationship between the social structure of knowledge systems and knowledge syntheses is explored in order to define the social and cultural requirements for effective linkage. Following an introduction (section 1), analysis is divided into 5 additional sections. Section 2 discusses tools for conceptualizing knowledge systems, including…

An overview is presented of the background and proceedings of a conference planned to share information on dissemination and utilization research conducted by National Institute of Education sponsored projects in educational laboratories and R&D centers in order to form a community among those who share similar research objectives and problems.…

An educational development team, working at the Center for the Study of Evaluation to produce the Elementary School Formative Evaluation Kit, saw that its mission was not simply to show that a product meets pre-determined performance specifications but was also to ensure that a product can be readily adapted by the user to the "noisy"…

Despite the development of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), strategies for bringing the capacities of educational research and development to local educational agencies have been largely ignored. This report suggests the need for "linking" strategies to bridge the gap, and proposes how they might be implemented.…

Within the context of UNESCO publications concerning science development, this first survey of country studies on Belgium, Chile, Egypt, Hungary, Nigeria and Sri Lanka gives information on the present state and organizational structure of social sciences. Evaluations of achievements which should contribute to the development of research and…

The sixth volume of a 10-volume report, this document provides an analytic history of dissemination at the National Institute of Education, focusing on six dissemination-related programs supported by the Institute: Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC), State Dissemination Capacity Building Program, Urban Sites/Documentation and…

Discussion of the research-to-practice gap in special education focuses on the dissemination problems of scale, school politics, and social and institutional contexts, including schools of education. Recommendations include improving access to a teacher friendly research knowledge base, improving preservice education, creating broader staff…

The need for a new function in education, that of the knowledge linker, is advanced. The need for a linker is explained in terms of a presumed gap between the researcher and the practitioner. The linker's suggested role in ascertaining the practitioner's needs and translating the researcher's findings is outlined. Various problems with the concept…

The Interstate Project on Dissemination specified four components as critical for a successful state information dissemination system: linkage, information, incentive, and management. An analysis of Pennsylvania's system, using this Project as a referent, uncovered several problems: (1) the linkage component was not functioning; (2) local…

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…