Research in the Schools (2024)

Editorial: Research in the Schools: The Flagship Journal of the Mid-South Educational Research Association

2010 •

rebecca frels

In 1994, the Mid-South Educational Research Association (MSERA) had the vision to create a journal that would be methodologically, conceptually, and philosophically appealing for an audience interested in research pertaining to school settings. As a result, Research in the Schools (RITS) was born! With an editorial board of national, international, and graduate student members (McLean & Kaufman, 2003), RITS has been a nationally and internationally refereed journal cosponsored by MSERA and three different universities: The University of Alabama, The University of South Florida, and its present day cosponsor, Sam Houston State University. As the assistant/production editor and editors of the journal, we build on Frels, Onwuegbuzie, and Slate’s (2009) analysis of articles submitted to RITS and document the authorships, genres, and demography of articles that have been published in RITS, from its inception through the 15th year of publication.

Research in Pursuit of Excellence: Report of the Study Group on Schooling. (Draft.)

1983 •

Robert Boruch

WVSU Research Journal

School Heads' Research Knowledge, Competence, and Challenges Encountered

2023 •

WVSU Research Journal, Ariette De Asis

Research is vital in addressing the pressing and emerging issues in school; thus, it should be cultivated and nurtured for the improvement of teaching competence, upgrading of school policies, and advancing school management towards educational development and progress. This study assessed the research knowledge, competence, and challenges encountered by the school heads in conducting research. Utilizing the quantitative-qualitative research design, the results revealed that the school heads had a high level of knowledge in creating research titles, creating context and rationale/introduction of the research, providing appropriate interventions, and collecting/gathering data. However, the school heads showed a very low competence in presenting research results and findings, formulating research instruments, evaluating research proposal/manuscript, interpreting research results and findings, and editing research proposal/manuscript. School heads’ research knowledge and competence were significantly influenced by educational attainment and school category. Sex significantly affected the school heads’ research competence but not their research knowledge. Challenges encountered were summarized in four key themes: (1) insufficiency of time, (2) difficulty in writing research technicalities, (3) paucity of knowledge in data collection processes, and (4) inadequacy of skills in data analysis and interpretation. The findings ensued in the creation of research revitalization programs and activities to rekindle the driving forces of school heads in providing researchbased interventions while addressing properly, appropriately, and effectively the research challenges, which may lead to advanced management practices, upgraded school policy implementation, and improved quality of education.

International Journal of Market Research

Research with children and schools: a researcher's recipe for successful access

2010 •

Katja Isaksen

Journal of School Connections Volume 4 Fall 2012

Diane Tracey

Theory Into Practice

Using Research to Inform the Practice of Teachers, Schools, and School Reform Organizations

2007 •

Jacqueline Ancess

Research Use? Knowledge Use? School Improvement? Personal Reflections on the Last 40 Years

Karen Seashore Louis

My career as a researcher began in a time that, like today, was consumed with an interest in school improvement and the way in which better knowledge could support it. In 1969 I was a graduate student in Sociology and Columbia University, and obtained my first research assistant position with Carol Weiss, helping her prepare an annotated bibliography that began her line of work in evaluation and research use among policy makers. Shortly thereafter, in 1970, I began work on a project that was one of the first to examine how research-based knowledge could be used in schools. The " Pilot State Dissemination Project " was funded by the federal government (then the Office of Education) to develop the capacity of state departments of education to promote the potential of the burgeoning (but difficult to access) data base in ERIC (Educational Research Information Centers). As is the case today, both scholars and educational professionals bemoaned the " gap " between research and practice, but back then there was almost no empirical understanding of why it existed. The results of that mixed-method study (Sieber, Louis, & Metzger, 1972) suggested that the " problem " of research and knowledge use in schools was far more complex than the predominant research-development-dissemination-utilization (RDDU) models suggested. In particular, a closer examination of the data pointed to the need for intermediary structures to get the " right stuff " into the hands of educators who had a question that could be answered with research. The role of " linking agents " or brokers/ intermediaries who could help educators in schools figure out how to use evidence-based solutions that were not prepackaged was critical – second only to whether the information was deemed to be useful (Louis, 1977). This finding was confirmed a few years later in several other studies that looked at knowledge use in different programs (Louis, 1983). Between studies that focused on research use and a parallel line of work on program implementation (Berman & McLaughlin, 1978), the importance of the human factor in knowledge dissemination and use was incontrovertible. At the time, the National Institute of Education (NIE) was deeply committed to understanding and supporting research use and invested its resources in understanding how it was connected to school improvement. It underwrote one of the first AERA SIGs (Special Interest Group on Research Utilization), and funded a motley group of researchers, professional developers, and " disseminators " to mix it up before the annual meeting. The Office of Education and the NIE also developed and funded a nascent dissemination system, which included an increased role for the relatively new Regional Laboratories, the funding of focused Research Centers in universities (whose work was expected to address applied problems), and dissemination systems like the National Diffusion Network, which

British Journal of Educational Technology

Research methods in education - By Louis Cohen et al

2011 •

John Cowan

Research in education: what works?

Ronald Barnett

Classroom and School Research: Investments in Enhancing Schools. Laboratory Policy Paper

1989 •

Thomas L. Good