Drawing upon research findings on school effectiveness, the McREL School Improvement Program was designed to examine critically such factors as school leadership, building organization, school climate and environment, and how citizens and parents are encouraged to participate in raising morale and effectiveness. Focus is upon instructional…

Although some school districts conduct follow-up studies of their high school graduates, few have systematically used the information to improve their educational programs or to guide policymaking. Weaknesses of typical vocational education follow-up studies include the following: avoidance of comparisons with nonvocational students, failure to…

The purposes of this study are to document the success of the Achievement Goals Program (AGP) in raising student achievement in San Diego Unified School District's minority-isolated schools and to provide recommendations for curriculum development and teacher training based on that success. Reports on the results of the Comprehensive Tests of…

This ongoing project, conducted in four municipalities in Sweden, is investigating the ways in which schools and teaching are affected by various local communities and the ways in which central directives are transformed into a local educational reality. A diverse range of data have been collected, including demographic data from the…

In the attempt to improve achievement test scores, schools may overlook affective activities and events as well as processes and procedures that influence students in positive ways. The self-fulfilling prophecies held by teachers, administrators, and others for their students and the self-concepts the students hold for themselves are two major…

This study was conducted to develop a process for identifying the effects of vocational education research and development projects and activities and to identify the effects of selected research projects on the vocational, technical, and adult education programs and students in Wisconsin. Technical and adult education faculty and staff who had…

The communication of research findings among collegiate institutional researchers is considered in relation to the contribution of qualitative language in general, and catastrophe theory in particular. The qualitative language of catastrophe theory may help reduce the arbitrariness of description, through identification of qualitative features…

Characteristics of the arts public, the quality and impact of arts audience research, and factors affecting research utilization are reported. Data were obtained from research literature searches and from over 600 questionnaire responses from museums, performing arts institutions, arts councils, and other organizations; directors of 86 recent…

This case study, one in a series of research efforts designed to examine the utilization of the Administration on Aging's research, compares the use of two handbooks--one on nursing home ombudsman services for which high use resulted and one on residential repair and renovation for which low use resulted. An introduction describes the study that…

Selected research studies which have potential utility for and impact upon the conduct of staff development programs in school settings are reviewed in this paper. The context, assessment, content, and process of staff development programs are defined, and 27 validated studies are introduced and discussed. Trends in findings are noted, and gaps in…

Without advancing a specific plan for reforming American schooling, this document identifies a number of conditions that must be met for education to be considered adequate. The paper defines an adequate education as one that achieves the social and individual purposes to which it has been addressed. The effects of politics and decentralization on…

The School Improvement Through Instructional Process (SITIP), an initiative undertaken by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), is described, and an evaluation of its progress from December 1980 through June 1982 is provided. Innovative teaching methods introduced by the SITIP project are described: (1) active teaching; (2) mastery…

The symposium here reported was conducted to expose educational administrators to recent research that may help schools become more productive. Prefatory material includes biographical information on the presenters, the agenda, and an introduction that emphasizes the importance of considering school culture when applying research findings.…

Two aspects of knowledge use in schools are analyzed in this report. The first considers the "reception" of knowledge that results from professional social inquiry (PSI), and the second explores some factors that affect the internal school dissemination of such knowledge. Data were collected from 207 secondary school teachers in 45…

A study examined the distribution, use, and impact of vocational education research and development (R&D) products developed with Federal monies during fiscal years 1981 and 1982. Distribution data for the study were obtained from responses to questionnaires from 22 of the 32 states with products accepted by the Educational Resources…