Discusses technology-planning processes in schools and presents two case studies of districts who used data findings to support steps for technology implementation. Highlights include planning teams; system assessment; goals focused on student learning; teachers' use of technology; staff-development programs; student/computer ratios; changes in…

Considers the preparation of future professionals who know and understand the nature of information and how it is used and managed in the larger context of political, economic, social, and technological issues. Discusses curriculum for information studies; its interdisciplinarity; faculty; theory versus practice; distributed learning; continuing…

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 globalization of information has led to increased optimism about the increasing role of global civil society. However, the underdeveloped have been left out of this information explosion. Through development, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) seek to empower the poor so that they have the resources and abilities to join the rest of the…

This document summarizes proceedings of a meeting held in September 1995. The purpose of the meeting was to gather educators and policymakers in order to establish criteria concerning links between educational research and decision making. Twenty participants from the following countries attended: Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Botswana, Brazil,…

The California State Department of Education commissioned the Far West Laboratory to conduct a study to enhance the effectiveness of methods of disseminating educational information in the state. The study began with a pilot written survey of administrators and support staff in a few schools. In-depth telephone interviews with department staff and…

Student satisfaction surveys assess satisfaction with various facets of the university and includes key sets of questions on programs and services, university learning and social environment, university mission and values, educational preparation, transfer intent, general satisfaction, attitudes toward coursework, and student demographic…

Because of a concern by the Alaska State Department of Education that results from the American College Test (ACT) and the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) are not being used to their fullest advantage to improve secondary instruction, the use of these assessment results by other states was studied. A two-page survey and request for copies of state…

This document presents the proceedings for the Office of Special Education Programs' 6th Annual Technical Assistance and Dissemination Meeting held on January 16-18, 1996, in Washington, DC. Conference discussions centered around changing expectations for local and state education agencies and technical assistance and dissemination (TA&D)…

Emerging research findings demonstrate a relationship between learning styles and approaches to using the World Wide Web and other hypermedia, especially in terms of success with information retrieval. One of the most widely used conceptions of learning styles is Witkin's Field Dependence (FD)/Field Independence (FI). FI individuals perceive…

Michigan's Macomb Community College's institutional assessment model involves using technology to collect and disseminate data on student learning in order to facilitate continuous improvement and adaptation. The first element of this five-part model is the mandatory testing, orientation, and placement of incoming students. Using placement test…

This volume is a companion to "Adult Education: Outlines of an Emerging Field of University Study" (more commonly known as "the black book"), a classic work published in 1964. It explores the developments, accomplishments, and changes in the field since 1964 and charts new directions for research, theory, and practice in the study of adult…

Since 1988, state governments have been required to collect quarterly from private sector employers gross earnings by Social Security numbers, industry of employment, and county of employment. A study was conducted of 13 states' efforts to use this wage record database as a tool for improving educational accountability and assessing the impact of…

This report summarizes the background and purpose of the Friedrichsdorf, West Germany UNISIST meeting and describes the principal issues which emerged from the papers presented and the accompanying discussion. Topics of discussion reported include: (1) the availability of information resources at the national level, particularly concerns of…

The external politics of technology utilization in schools involving local, state, and federal levels of government is the central focus of this paper. Interest group politics are also examined, especially as practiced at the state level by professional associations representing teachers, administrators, and school board members. The first chapter…