Background: COVID-19 accentuated an evergreen dilemma in evidence-informed policy making--the imperative to synthesise the best available evidence with limited time to produce high quality synthesis. The pandemic prompted the adaptation of evidence synthesis practices to match the urgency of the crisis, and heightened demand by policy makers,…

When swift, accurate appraisal of evidence is required to inform policy concerning broad research questions, and budgetary constraints limit the employment of large research teams, researchers face a significant challenge which is sometimes met by reviewing existing systematic reviews. In this paper we highlight the challenges inherent in the…

This report uses the three-component framework to categorize and synthesize major recommendations to Congress for the ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) reauthorization and briefly analyzes them from the perspective of the third component. The analysis illuminates fundamental gaps in the prevailing recommendations. In particular, this…

Findings of a review of 64 meta-analytic articles show that experimental data and quasi-experimental or nonexperimental data are sometimes combined incorrectly. Discusses how guidance from proponents of meta-analysis fails to make clear the importance of not synthesizing different kinds of data. (SLD)

Examination of the relationship between environmentalists and scientists concludes that environmentalism has had little impact on science. Topics discussed include the degree to which scientific research has become more applied; efforts to integrate and coordinate research projects; the synthesis of scientific information for policy purposes; and…

Explores the nature of a synthetic review of research. A review is "gatekeeping, policing, and productive rather than merely mirroring." A review can inform analyses of policy areas as it recognizes and fosters quality published work. The critical review can provide a basis from which new work can spring. (SLD)

Personal interaction between health policy makers and researchers is widely seen as the key to enhancing research use, but there are also increasing demands that policies be based on syntheses of the available evidence. A potential paradox arises in that whilst interaction may result in greater use of the evidence it might also lead to a partial…

The number of students taking online courses in K-12 has increased exponentially since the inception of virtual schools in 1996. However, K-12 virtual schooling is a relatively new concept for those involved in teacher education. As teacher education departments build pre-service preparation programs, in-service professional development…

A loosely knit coalition of over 25 native groups, the Peruvian Amazon Peoples has prepared a statement directed at the Peruvian Constitutional Assembly for purposes of Native input into the preparation of a revised national constitution. (JC)

Extensive appendices constitute the major portion of this document detailing the organizational history of the Central Office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and its Office of Indian Education Programs during the reorganizational period of 1966-74. A brief summary of this period in the BIA includes the following major points: the…

The 19 sections of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 are briefly analyzed. (JC)

The six chapters of this theme issue attempt to define conceptual and methodological issues in the evaluation of integrated services systems and to begin to synthesize some of these issues. An introduction to these evaluation issues is followed by case studies and a discussion of implications for program and policy development. (SLD)

Twenty-seven position papers presented by representatives from educational agencies, regional corporations, and other interested parties in attendance at the 1973 Forum on Education in the Unorganized Borough (Alaska) were reviewed by the Center for Northern Educational Research (CNER) for purposes of identifying implied conditions or actions re…

Forty-five brief papers cover four areas: research integration methodology; standard curriculum topics in educational research and evaluation; individual differences and special programs suited to particular groups of students; and programs of research integration being conducted by the University of Illinois-Chicago Circle and the National…

It is argued that both economic concerns and political factors can be synthesized within a new framework to improve city policymaking. This approach is based on a systematic empirical study of policymaking in Milwaukee (Wisconsin) and Baltimore (Maryland) in the 1970s and early 1980s. Numerous government documents and extensive interviews with…