Policies and strategies for use of research findings in school

The state-of-the-field study has shown that all countries, states or regions included have recently undertaken reform in both policy and strategy, and that almost all have a focus on how to promote the use of evidence-based knowledge among school professionals as part of their reforms. Comparison of the countries, states, and regions show that policies for the use of research cover a broad spectrum.

At one end of the spectrum we find countries, states, or regions where the state has taken the lead in introducing research-based knowledge into schools practices, and here the state of Maryland is a clear example. In Maryland the Common Core State Standards were developed and published in 2010. The standards define the knowledge and skills that students should achieve from Kindergarten to grade 12. They are research- and evidence-based, they appear clear and consistent, and they are aligned with college and career expectations. Moreover, they are based on rigorous content and application of knowledge through higher-order thin-king skills. The standards are built upon the strengths and lessons of the previously existing state standards, and finally, the standards are informed by other top-performing countries.

At the other end of the spectrum are countries that – as yet – have not developed centrally based strategies, but still intend to use evidence-based approaches in teaching and support local initiatives. The best example here is Scotland, where for example the School Impro-vement Partnership Programme (SIPP) uses collaborative inquiry. The purpose of the programme is to bring about improvement by enabling school practitioners to discuss with

one another, to do research, to experiment with their practice and to look at the changes taking place in school. SIPP focuses on educational inequality, and draws on internatio-nal research and practice demonstrating how local partnerships and collaborations are of significant importance for making effective school improvements. The intention here is to support partnerships that can lead to substantial and sustained development and increased attainment in the realm of practice.

Finland resembles Scotland in the absence of centrally based policies for the use of re-search-based knowledge. According to the national core curriculum of 2016, Finnish teachers are very much expected to use research or research-based knowledge in their practice; but because the core curriculum is very flexible, local education providers have the autonomy to implement this guiding document in different ways. Commissioned research is publicly available in Finland, but it is not a requirement that it is published specifically for practice in easily accessible and applicable formats. This means that the ministry’s main avenue for promoting its commissioned research is through the media.

In New Zealand there is a central political interest in and focus on generating evidence, but the system relies on commitment among schools and teachers to implementing research and evidence so as to inform school practice. There is no overall policy or strategy on knowledge mobilisation in education, but there is a strong emphasis on teacher-led inquiry, which can be described as an evidence-based process that allows teachers to trial new methods and tools in relation to the needs of their classes. In other words, a teacher or school identifies a learning challenge and then gathers information, including looking more widely at research evidence, then identifies how to incorporate this information into their teaching practice.

At or around the mid-range of the spectrum, we find countries where the use of evidence forms part of a wider reform, or is supported by a range of institutions that collect and dis-seminate research and fund the use of research-based knowledge. Sweden comes closest to a centralised approach: its Education Act of 2012 clearly states that primary education in Sweden must be knowledge-based. Paragraph five of chapter one states that “Educati-onal programmes must be based on scientific knowledge and proven experience.” Thus the overall teaching principles, as well as their elaboration in practice, must incorporate research knowledge at their core. The Education Act determines the rights and obligations of local school authorities, students, and their caretakers, and can be seen as the backbone of educational policy in Sweden.

Another example is the state of New South Wales, where the Open Data Policy of 2013

as-sists agencies in embedding open-data principles in operations and in releasing high-value datasets which help to facilitate implementation of best practice. The Open Data Policy is a government strategy on information management and data-sharing. It aims to assist agencies across government in embedding open-data principles in their operations and in releasing high-value datasets, and it helps to facilitate the implementation of best-practice open-data principles across the public sector.

The province of Ontario uses a twin-track publishing strategy. One strand of this is to output material from a secretariat under the education ministry which helps school practitioners to put the best evidence-tested ideas into practice at school and classroom level. The other produces materials based on field knowledge of what teachers and principals are already preoccupied with and wish to do better. Publications are written in short, easy-to-read for-mat. The idea behind these monographs is that they are pitched just one step further ahead of where the teachers are.

More distantly connected to centralisation we find Denmark, where the school reform of 2014 has been followed by heavy investment in in-service training and knowledge mobilisa-tion among both teachers and pedagogues, with the aim of increasing teaching competency in all school subjects as well as qualifying teachers to make use of new research findings.

An example of the use of institutions is England, where the government has promoted the use of evidence in social policy through a broad range of initiatives such as the establishment of a network of seven What Works centres, including the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF). The EEF’s programme uses quantitative methodologies to increase the amount of robust research, and through the use of these methodologies challenges higher education and other institutions to undertake more quantitative research in education. Through the Teaching and Learning Toolkit and through clear and actionable guidance, the EEF is also helping improving access to, and synthesis of, educational research. Another example is the establishment of a network of teaching schools to help other schools to improve and support the development of a self-improving system. Teaching schools are outstanding schools that work with other schools to provide high-quality training and development to both new and experienced school staff. As of February 2016, there were 538 alliances in operation, incorporating 689 teaching schools. Research and development is one of six priorities for teaching schools, and they help the schools in their alliance undertake school-based inquiry projects and support the schools in their engagement with and use of research evidence.

In Norway, the Norwegian Research Council’s Programme for Research and Innovation

in the Educational Sector came into operation in 2014, This long-term, policy-oriented pro-gramme is designed to develop new knowledge for the entire educational sector. Knowledge mobilisation is seen here as a highly complex process that not only requires easy access to research and evidence, but also depends on the competencies, capacity, and learning cul-ture of those who are expected to use research-based knowledge. A central objective in the strategy for educational research is to make research findings readily accessible and easy for practitioners to put into practice. Accordingly in 2013 the Ministry for Education and Research invested in the establishment of the Knowledge Centre for Education, in order to facilitate the use of research and to encourage teachers to engage with evidence.