RESEARCH USE AND ITS IMPACT IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Our project looking at the mobilization of research knowledge in secondary schools in Canada is now complete. We conclude that knowledge and use of relevant research in these settings is modest and that our attempt to change this through some relatively simple interventions had little impact. This project was funded by the Canadian Education Association (CEA). For more information please view the CEA's final report.  

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Ben Levin and Creso Sa are co-investigators on this project, which is being funded by the Canadian Education Association (CEA). The purpose of this collaborative research is to learn about the ways research is encountered and used to shape policy and practice in Canadian secondary schools.   It is part of a larger project in which CEA is working with a network of 10 school districts with approximately 100 secondary schools that are interested in substantial change in secondary education (more information is available on the CEA website - www.cea-ace.ca). The schools and districts will be partners in developing the project and interpreting its results.  Amanda Cooper, Shalini Mascarenhas, Kathy Thompson.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The research starts from the framework developed by Levin (2004) and similar framing by Nutley et al (2007) [both citations are in the annotated bibliography] suggesting that knowledge and use of research in schools depends on characteristics of the research itself (such as accessibility and perceived quality), characteristics of the educators and schools (research background, interest level, supporting processes and structures) and the role of third parties (such as general and professional media, experts, professional development providers) as distributors of knowledge. In general educators, like other professionals, have relatively limited direct knowledge of current research and rely heavily on versions of research findings that they encounter in their work. However it may be possible to shift this pattern by certain kinds of interventions, particularly through creating organizational supports and incentives for consideration of research, so the study includes an ‘intervention’ component.

Research knowledge is defined as including empirical and conceptual work produced by professional researchers, whether in universities, school systems or other organizations, as well as the uses of data and evidence generated by schools participating in this study (such as surveys of current or former students, or action research by teachers).

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. How do educators learn about research findings? 

2. In what ways do the schools and school systems support or inhibit the use of research?

3. What knowledge do educational leaders (defined above) have about some important research findings related to their goal of improving secondary schools?

4. How do these research findings affect district and school policies, programs, resource allocations and other decisions?

5. What interventions might most effectively and efficiently improve the availability and use of research in and for secondary schools?

STUDY DESIGN

PROJECT STATUS

Data has been collected and compiled from both pre-intervention and post-intervention surveys. The data has been tabulated and the preliminary analysis is complete. The results have been compiled and formatted into comprehensive tables for individual districts to receive their results with the findings and reports below.

FINDINGS AND REPORTS