Becoming A Research Informed School

Becoming a Research-Informed School examines the reasons why teachers and leaders use research to improve their schools, and explores how teachers select, understand and use research to enhance learning experiences in fast-moving classroom environments. It analyses what teachers and school leaders actually do, to use research in their schools, and how they build a research-informed culture. Based firmly in data from real schools and considering the experiences of over 150 education professionals, it shows how research and evidence can be used to: Improve decision-making processes Develop schools as intellectual communities Address priorities for improvement Implement research-informed teaching Respond to policy imperative for informed practice Guide future research It considers key topics including Teacher Research, Lesson Study, the use of data to effect improvements, navigating social media and blogs, and how to overcome common obstacles to research use in schools. Becoming a Research-Informed School is full of rich, detailed examples of research and research utilisation. It is an indispensable resource for teachers and leaders who wish to take an informed approach to creating a professional learning community.

Research-Informed Teacher Learning explores career-long improvements in knowledge building and the skills required in curriculum reform, transformations in teaching methods, alterations to assessment, and restructurings in school administration and management. This extends to meeting the needs and interests of different and diverse students and groups of students, mentoring student teachers and beginning teachers, and supporting experienced teachers, so they are all responsive to their local school-communities, thereby contributing to democratic schooling and the public good. The book mainly focuses on the professionals working in teaching and teacher education from pre-service training and development through early-mid career and into later stages of career mobility. It pinpoints the ways that practitioners need to be involved in the design and delivery of changing models of teacher education which helps in the development of their own professional activities at all levels of the teaching service. Dedicated to the late Professor Carey Philpott, the book takes his ideas forward, particularly in the current conjuncture when teacher learning is curtailed and constrained by power brokers, politicians and policy makers in various undemocratic ways. This book will be of great interest for academics and researchers in the fields of teacher education, educational policy and politics, and lifelong learning and development.

We know that educators and education systems at large face countless decisions every day. We also know that grounding educational decisions in research can improve the likelihood of desirable teaching and learning outcomes, as well as reduce the likelihood of unintended consequences. Research is just one among many types of evidence used in educational decision-making, however. So being “evidence informed” is as much about engaging with research evidence as it is engaging with practice-based evidence (e.g., professional judgment) and data-based evidence (e.g., school performance data). How can educators become evidence-informed? In our view, the best approach is to learn from examples from experts of how research can be integrated with these other types of evidence, and so regularly inform our own everyday practice. With that in mind, this practical handbook offers 16 illuminating chapters that provide a wealth of advice and perspectives on the subject written by North American educators who are striving to realize the idea of research-informed practice. Key themes – reflective practitioners, networks and collaboration, trust -emerge to help teachers formalize, prioritize and mobilize the use of research-evidence in schools.

Educators must both respond to the impact of trauma, and prevent trauma at school. Trauma-informed initiatives tend to focus on the challenging behaviors of students and ascribe them to circumstances that students are facing outside of school. This approach ignores the reality that inequity itself causes trauma, and that schools often heighten inequities when implementing trauma-informed practices that are not based in educational equity. In this fresh look at trauma-informed practice, Alex Shevrin Venet urges educators to shift equity to the center as they consider policies and professional development. Using a framework of six principles for equity-centered trauma-informed education, Venet offers practical action steps that teachers and school leaders can take from any starting point, using the resources and influence at their disposal to make shifts in practice, pedagogy, and policy. Overthrowing inequitable systems is a process, not an overnight change. But transformation is possible when educators work together, and teachers can do more than they realize from within their own classrooms.

Research informed teaching is big news! There has been a bottom up revolution encouraging teachers' use of research. But at the same time there is a gap between what teachers do and what research suggests might provide effective ways to support student learning. It's not that a wealth of educational research doesn't exist, but what teachers, school and school system leaders need is an understanding of how to embed this research within everyday practice. Drawing on the wisdom of those at the top of their game, this book intends to provide just that: a practical handbook for teachers and leaders that can help make the research use revolution a reality. With contributions from leading 'do-ers' in the field of knowledge mobilisation including: Daniel Muijs (Ofsted); Cat Scutt (Chartered College of Teaching); Jonathan Sharples (EEF); Julie Nelson (NfER); Adam Boxer (teacher and blogger); Gary Jones (blogger); David Weston (Teacher Development Trust) and Caroline Creaby (Sandingham Research School), the book provides a wealth of insight. This knowledge is then further distilled into useable guidance and best practice principles that can be readily implemented at classroom, school and teaching school alliance level.

This collection offers a timely and wide-ranging contribution to the research-informed improvement of the work of teacher educators. Drawing on original research studies conducted across a range of European countries, Canada, and Israel, contributors offer insight into not only questions of curriculum and programme development, research, and professional development, but also their day-to-day experience as teacher educators, student teachers, and mentors in schools. Themes explored include teaching and working with students, teacher educators as researchers, the partnership work of teacher educators, the professional development needs of teacher educators, professional development approaches for improving teacher education, and teacher educator empowerment. Arising from the international community of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE), and drawing together theory and practice, this book offers a unique survey of the contributions of teacher educators and charts a path for future directions of the field.

We know that educators and education systems at large face countless decisions every day. We also know that grounding educational decisions in research can improve the likelihood of desirable teaching and learning outcomes, as well as reduce the likelihood of unintended consequences. Research is just one among many types of evidence used in educational decision-making, however. So being 'evidence informed' is as much about engaging with research evidence as it is engaging with practice-based evidence (e.g., professional judgment) and data-based evidence (e.g., school performance data). How can educators become evidence-informed? In our view, the best approach is to learn from examples from experts of how research can be integrated with these other types of evidence, and so regularly inform our own everyday practice. With that in mind, this practical handbook offers 16 illuminating chapters that provide a wealth of advice and perspectives on the subject written by North American educators who are striving to realize the idea of research-informed practice. Key themes - reflective practitioners, networks and collaboration, trust - emerge to help teachers formalize, prioritize and mobilize the use of research-evidence in schools.

Action research, explored in this book, is a seven-step process for improving teaching and learning in classrooms at all levels. Through practical examples, research tools, and easy-to-follow "implementation strategies," Richard Sagor guides readers through the process from start to finish. Learn how to uncover and use the data that already exist in your classrooms and schools to answer significant questions about your individual or collective concerns and interests. Sagor covers each step in the action research process in detail: selecting a focus, clarifying theories, identifying research questions, collecting data, analyzing data, reporting results, and taking informed action. Drawing from the experience of individual teachers, faculties, and school districts, Sagor describes how action research can enhance teachers' professional standing and efficacy while helping them succeed in settings characterized by increasingly diverse student populations and an emphasis on standards-based reform. The book also demonstrates how administrators and policymakers can use action research to bolster efforts related to accreditation, teacher supervision, and job-embedded staff development. Part how-to guide, part inspirational treatise, Guiding School Improvement with Action Research provides advice, information, and encouragement to anyone interested in reinventing schools as learning communities and restructuring teaching as the true profession it was meant to be.