That there is a divide between research and practice is a common lament across policy-oriented disciplines, and education is no exception. Rhetoric abounds about the role research plays (or does not play) in the improvement of schools and classrooms, and policy makers push solutions that are rooted in assumptions about the way that research should influence practice. Yet few people have studied the relationship between research and practice empirically. This book presents findings from a series of interlocking case studies of nationally visible R&D projects, with a unique focus on how researchers and practitioners actually worked together, and the policy, social, and institutional processes that either enabled or hindered their work. The book investigates the dynamics of cross-institutional collaboration and the relationship between tool design, teacher learning, and the implementation of research-based approaches. It also explores conditions for learning in schools and the role of evidence in district decision making. By investigating the roles played by research and practice in these ten educational improvement efforts, the book illuminates lessons for those who seek to do this kind of work in the future. It concludes by suggesting implications for designers, funders, school and district leaders, and universities.

Alex Maitland left everything she knew to reinvent her life in Los Angeles when she was swept into the world of three letter agencies and international intrigue. On a forced vacation and by an act of fate she meets Sam Donovan who is more than he appears. Imprisoned in a country famed for its human rights violations, in a transformational story that could be taken from today's headlines, tortured and left without hope they must rescue a hostage opening the door for a United Nations inspection. Alex life was at risk almost from the moment she met Sam and she cannot rely on her training as a psychologist to maintain her grip on reality in an environment that seeks to destroy them both.

Golf . . . is a sport in which the whole American family can participate--fathers and mothers, sons and daughters alike. It offers healthy respite from daily toil, refreshment of body and mind.
. --President Dwight D. Eisenhower. .

On January 24, 1953, four days after his inauguration, the "New York Times" reported that President Dwight D. Eisenhower had been spotted on the White House lawn practicing his short irons in the direction of the Washington Monument. This image of The Golfing General was one that the American public quickly became accustomed to, as Eisenhower is said to have played nearly 800 rounds during the course of his two-term presidency. He befriended the game's most beloved players, including Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, and Byron Nelson, and was the subject of hundreds of golf jokes and cartoons..

The public's awareness of Eisenhower's obsession with golf led directly to the sport's mid-century surge in popularity. In "Don't Ask What I Shot," noted historian Catherine M. Lewis offers a unique alternate portrait of Ike and this watershed period in American history.. .

Any time you have a person in the position of President Eisenhower, who was so enthusiastic about golf and had the press paying attention to his many excursions on the golf course, it was going to make people aware of the game and how much he enjoyed playing it.
. --Arnold Palmer. .

""Don't Ask What I Shot" is a fascinating examination of one of golf's pivotal decades, and the remarkable president who did more to popularize the game than any other in history."
-Mark Frost, award-winning author of "Grand Slam" and "The Greatest Game Ever Played," .

"Whatever remained to be doneto remove the last traces of the average man's carefully nurtured prejudice against a game originally linked with the wealthy and aloof was done by President Eisenhower."
--Herbert Warren Wind, renowned golf writer. . . .

Dry Fire captures the heat and streets of North Florida with admirable precision. The character of cop Abigail Fitzpatrick is a convincing mix of someone who is absolutely jaded and yet capable of utter astonishment. If Edna Buchanan has a long lost sister, her name is Catherine Lewis and she lives upstate. Madeleine Blais"

That there is a divide between research and practice is a common lament across policy-oriented disciplines, and education is no exception. Rhetoric abounds about the role research plays (or does not play) in the improvement of schools and classrooms, and policy makers push solutions that are rooted in assumptions about the way that research should influence practice. Yet few people have studied the relationship between research and practice empirically. This book presents findings from a series of interlocking case studies of nationally visible R&D projects, with a unique focus on how researchers and practitioners actually worked together, and the policy, social, and institutional processes that either enabled or hindered their work. The book investigates the dynamics of cross-institutional collaboration and the relationship between tool design, teacher learning, and the implementation of research-based approaches. It also explores conditions for learning in schools and the role of evidence in district decision making. By investigating the roles played by research and practice in these ten educational improvement efforts, the book illuminates lessons for those who seek to do this kind of work in the future. It concludes by suggesting implications for designers, funders, school and district leaders, and universities.