Few books consider the relationship of research and evaluation to policy and practice but this book opens up debates in that field. It examines the major processes, the problems of conducting research and looks at how they can be overcome.

Part 1 Issues in Policy Focused Research and Evaluation: The Relationship Between Educational Research and Evaluation and the Role of the Local Education Authority, A Sanday; Voices for Empowering of the Researched in a Report for Policy Makers, C Biott; Inspection, Time Constrained Evaluation and the Production of Credible Educational Knowledge, B Wilcox; Part 2 Educational Research and Evaluation for Policy and Practice - Some Empirical Studies: Local and National Evaluation, C Pole ; Evaluation for Policy - Rationality and Political Reality - The Paradigm Case of Praise? M James ; Teaching and the Self in a Time of Change, J Nias; Educational Research and Professional Development - On The Minds That Watch Themselves, M-L Holly (USA).