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 article explores issues raised in knowledge transformation processes through three separate, but related lenses. It starts with a discussion of the relationship between knowledge transformation and research outputs. In so doing, it encompasses both direct research outputs, that is research reports and papers in journals, and indirect outputs,…

This article highlights major points of each of the articles in this special issue on the research to practice gap in special education. It then considers some broader implications, especially the need to foster and establish collegial networks to counter the isolation in which many teachers currently work. (Contains references.) (DB)

This paper examines the role of effective practices in making education "special" for students with emotional and/or behavior disorders and discusses barriers and potential solutions for translating research into practice. These include accessibility of the literature base, teacher training and the role of teacher educators, support to implement…

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…