You are here: Home Activities Research Mapping Research, policy and... Bibliography Translating Research Into...
 
Document Actions

Robert E Slavin (2004)

Translating Research Into Widespread Practice: The Case Of Success For All

Government Report

The difficulty of translating research into practice in education is one of the most important problems in education reform. The problem is not so much that educators are resistant to change; on the contrary, certain kinds of innovation can be widely adopted, and educators are sure to cite research to support whatever innovation they advocate. Yet the connection between the findings of research and the practices of educators more resembles the faddism of art or fashion than the steady progress over time characteristic of medicine, agriculture, or technology (see Slavin, 1989). Educational innovations often appear and become widespread entirely in the absence of research. Research eventually appears on these innovations, but whether the research supports or fails to support the innovation, interest in it declines within a few years.<br>
In 1987 my colleagues and I developed Success for All, a program that was designed in large part to try to break through the barrier between research and practice by building a well-specified, comprehensive approach to schoolwide practice in high-poverty elementary schools that would both be based on the best research available and would then be subjected to rigorous experimental evaluations. From the outset, the idea was to provide educators with every support they needed?student materials, teacher?s manuals, training, followup, and school organization?to enable them to make daily, high-quality, thoughtful use of the findings of research. This chapter describes the history of this attempt to translate research into practice, the obstacles encountered, and the findings of research and experience with the program.

 
by rey last modified 2009-07-16 15:07

Powered by Plone CMS, the Open Source Content Management System

This site conforms to the following standards: