Improving student learning is the primary goal of every teacher of algebra. Teachers seek strategies to help all students learn important algebra content and develop mathematical practices. The new Institute of Education Sciences[IES] practice guide, "Teaching Strategies for Improving Algebra Knowledge in Middle and High School Students"…

The Consortium on Chicago School Research (CCSR) at the University of Chicago was founded in 1990, two years after the passage of the Chicago School Reform Act that decentralized governance of the city's public schools. Since then, CCSR has distinguished itself as a unique organization, conducting research of high technical quality that is…

After many years as a high school mathematics teacher, administrator, university professor, and philosopher of education, the author's inclination in answering this question (what can teachers learn from research?) is to say, "not much." If one is looking for a recipe-like answer to questions about how to teach fractions, reading, spelling, or…

This paper critically examines the application of research into cognitive neuroscience to educational contexts. It first considers recent warnings from within the neuroscientific community itself about the limitations of current neuroscientific knowledge and the urgent need to dispel popular "neuromyths" which have become accepted in…

Increasingly, teachers--but also parents and politicians--voice dissatisfaction with the divide they experience between research and practice and the resulting minimal impact of teacher education (Ashton, 1996; Barone, Berliner, Blanchard, Casanova, & McGowan, 1996). The problem seems to be perennial. More than a century ago, John Dewey pointed…

The teaching-research nexus has been studied by many researchers, mainly looking at pedagogic links and direct benefits arising from the interaction of both activities. The paper takes a comparative approach, looking at the relationship between teaching and research in four universities from two different countries. This paper argues that…

This commentary observes that the contributions to this special issue of this journal not only show that the question of the relationship between research and practice is still very much alive today but they are also testimony to the persistent nature of this question. This suggests that the issue of the relationship between research and practice…

The enthusiastic acceptance of Madeline Hunter's ideas is worrisome, according to Slavin, because of the large-scale, mandated implementation of a stripped-down formula version of her principles. Hunter defends her work and argues that teachers should be free to use their own creativity. (MT)

This paper makes a case for the existence and study of the wisdom of practice by looking at educational practitioners' concepts as its locus and source. (These concepts may also be described as the accumulated "folk wisdom" of the teaching community). These communal concepts, part of an accumulated lore regarding teaching and education…

Suggests that the work of reading researchers may be ineffective because it lacks a practical impact on teacher educators or classroom teachers. (AEA)

While the physiological explanations from neuroscience help explain the mechanisms of learning, they fall short of explaining the sociocultural and phenomenological factors that determine a stressful versus a challenging interpretation of experience. For this reason, neuroscience seems less than useful to classroom teachers. A major obstacle in…

The author argues that findings of research in humanistic education should be treated as a vital element in teacher education. Humanistic educational practices in which high levels of empathy, congruence, and positive self regard are present will most certainly reduce, if not alleviate, many of the major problems facing education. (MT)

In reaction to presentations at the Airlie House Conference on the Implications of Research on Teaching for Practice, two papers (by O. Smith and N. L. Gage, respectively) discuss how far research on teaching has come as a field, while a third (by G. D. Fenstermacher) explains how implications of research on teaching can be used. (MP)

Experimental, descriptive, and philosophical music education research projects have implications and benefits for practitioners. The Music Educators National Conference (MENC) provides assistance for understanding, applying, and conducting research. Future research will focus on the problems of music learning. (Author/AM)

Teachers should familiarize themselves with the practical advantages of single-subject methodology in attempting to meet the various learning needs of hearing-impaired students. Two examples are provided to illustrate how these designs can act as tools for deciding which of several teaching methods are most beneficial to particular students.…