Book Description

Governments urgently need better national information bases for determining educational policy and practice in an increasingly interconnected world. This report, from the first phase of the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI), presents a framework for improved international cooperation in improving the knowledge base for educational practice and policy formation. The information is based on CERI seminars and country reports from Australia, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The first chapter presents the statement of the problem and explains how the study was conducted. The second chapter examines some of the pervasive criticisms directed at educational research and describes some implications for research policy. An analysis of what the term "educational research and development" means is presented in the third chapter. Chapter 4 describes the current position of educational research in a group of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, using several indicators of research-and-development finance and staffing. Chapter 5 discusses how educational research relates to policy and practice and how this relationship might be improved. The sixth chapter considers what the knowledge base in education is and could be like. What are the interests of the various constituencies and how can these interests be better aligned? The last chapter presents a summary of the main challenges and describes the options for government policy. One figure and four tables are included. Appendices contain case studies of innovation in educational research and development (R&D), a list of subject interests from country reports, and a description of the methodology used in measuring indicators of educational R&D. Each chapter contains references. (LMI)