RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE IN SPECIAL-EDUCATION

In this article the authors outline a number of disparate reactions to the Gersten et al. (this issue) piece. Gersten et al. rightly point o ut that researchers' reluctance to draw conclusions from ambiguous dat a is at odds with educators' daily demands and serves to reduce the im pact of research. In contrast, the authors argue that on those occasio ns when educators have confronted the application of undocumented prac tices, they have done society a great service. The lack of middle-leve l scientist/practitioners in the education field is discussed. This si tuation puts much more of a burden on educational practitioners and re searchers to stretch themselves to communicate with each other. Issues of source credibility become paramount, and widespread dissemination of scientific criteria for evaluating claims is critical. Finally, it is argued that researchers and educators are kindred spirits at the ep istemological level, because both are grounded in a ''what works'' epi stemology.