How educational research could play a greater role in K-12 school improvement

Between 2019 and 2022, the Institute of Educational Sciences, the research and evaluation arm of the U.S. Education Department, distributed US$473 million in 255 grants to improve educational outcomes.

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https://theconversation.com/how-educational-research-could-play-a-greater-role-in-k-12-school-improvement-211720https://theconversation.com/how-educational-research-could-play-a-greater-role-in-k-12-school-improvement-211720
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Friday, August 25, 2023
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American Educational Research Association, Education, Policy, NAEP, COVID-19, University, Research, Language, Achievement, Science, Literacy, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Congress, National Assessment of Educational Progress, School, Student, US, Institute of Education Sciences, Time, Institute, Reading, Growth, Color, Tutoring, Nursing, Management, Design
Summary
Key Points: 
  • Between 2019 and 2022, the Institute of Educational Sciences, the research and evaluation arm of the U.S. Education Department, distributed US$473 million in 255 grants to improve educational outcomes.
  • In 2021, colleges and universities spent approximately $1.6 billion on educational research.
  • The Educational Research Information Center, a federally run repository, houses 1.6 million educational research sources in over 1,000 scholarly journals.
  • Each year, for instance, more than 15,000 educators and researchers gather to present or discuss educational research findings at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association.

Growing gaps

    • During the same period, NAEP outcomes show stagnated growth in reading achievement among fourth graders.
    • By eighth grade, there is a greater gap in reading achievement between the highest- and lowest-achieving students.
    • Some education experts have even suggested that the chances for progress get dimmer for students as they get older.
    • Here are four things I believe can be done in order to make sure that educational research is actually being applied.

1. Build better relationships with school leaders


    Educational researchers can reach out to school leaders before doing their research in order to design research based on the needs of schools and schoolchildren. If school leaders can see how educational research can specifically benefit their school community, they may be more likely to implement findings and recommendations from the research.

2. Make policy and practice part of the research process

    • By implementing new policies and practices based on research findings, researchers can work with school leaders to do further research to see if the new policies and practices actually work.
    • Through the fund, $679 million was distributed through 67 grants – and 12 of those 67 funded projects improved student outcomes.

3. Rethink how research impact is measured


    As part of the national rankings for colleges of education – that is, the schools that prepare schoolteachers for their careers – engagement with public schools could be made a factor in the rankings. The rankings could also include measurable educational impact.

4. Rethink and redefine how research is distributed

    • Research findings written in everyday language could be distributed at conferences frequented by public school teachers and in the periodicals that they read.
    • If research findings are to make a difference, I believe there has to be a stronger focus on using research to bring about real-world change in public schools.
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