Purpose: School leaders are critical to organizational change and school improvement, particularly through their role in facilitating teacher development. Yet the literature is thin regarding the extent to which various sources of evidence influence school leaders' decisions and regarding conditions that may shape differences in school leader…

A recent issue of the Australian Journal of Language and Literacy included an article reporting on a systematic narrative review of the research literature that indicated that there was insufficient evidence to conclude whether genre theory and systemic functional linguistics either 'worked' or 'did not work'. The criteria used to evaluate these…

Adapting interventions based on learner progress is paramount to the effectiveness of interventions in special education and applied behavior analysis. Although there is some research on effective methods for training practitioners to make general instructional decisions (e.g., modify an intervention) based on graphed performance data, research on…

In Ireland, as elsewhere, there has been growing recognition around the importance of using research evidence to inform educational policy and practice at both a national government and individual school level. Despite such importance, there is currently a dearth of empirical, peer-reviewed studies regarding the use of research evidence in the…

Many students in the upper elementary grades and beyond uniquely struggle with reading comprehension, necessitating explicit instruction and remediation in this area. This U.S. study used data-based decision-making (DBDM), a research-based systematic approach to student data collection and analysis, to intensify the evidence-based Strategies for…

Government agencies collect vast amounts of administrative data in their day-to-day activities, primarily for program operations. But the information is less often used as a research tool or fully harnessed for its evidence-building potential. This brief is the fourth in a series of publications from MDRC about the Temporary Assistance for Needy…

Background: To improve the use of evidence in policy and practice, many organisations and individuals seek to promote research-policy engagement activities, but little is known about what works. Aims and objectives: We sought (a) to identify existing research-policy engagement activities, and (b) evidence on impacts of these activities on research…

Background: Knowledge brokering plays an important role in the evidence-to-policy system, but little is known about whether and how it occurs within government departments. Aims and objectives: Using empirical evidence from one UK government department, this article analyses how knowledge brokering takes place inside the policy making process and…

The purpose of this small case-study is to gain an in depth understanding of how secondary school teachers perceive that data walls impact their teaching practices and subsequently, students' learning and growth. By drawing on a conceptual model of evidence-informed practice (EIP), this case study examined responses from secondary school teachers…

Data-informed decision-making in teachers' practice, now recommended by different teacher inquiry models and policy documents, implies deep practice change for many teachers. However, not much is known about how teachers perceive the different steps that analytics-informed teacher inquiry entails. This paper presents the results of a study into…

The Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) has created the first longitudinally linked dataset of Australian students' National Assessment Program -- Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) participation and results. This technical paper describes the creation of the Longitudinal Literacy and Numeracy in Australia (LLANIA) dataset, including the…

Purpose: Research shows data-informed leadership matters for school improvement and student achievement, but less is known about what motivates leaders' data use toward such outcomes, particularly in the Catholic school context. Design/methodology/approach: This qualitative interview study uses interview (n = 23) data from a sample of Catholic…

The School Bullying Prevention and Education Grant (BPEG) program has supported Colorado schools and districts in ending bullying since it was first funded in 2016, after having been created by H.B. 11-1254. Administered by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE), as of May 2024, the BPEG program has distributed over $15 million toward this…

Evidence based decision making is essential for enabling improved student learning. Teacher motivations and beliefs about the types and use of data are critical determinants of decision making. Our research explored the types of data teachers use and consider valuable when measuring improvement in student learning. Findings from 294 teachers from…

Within the field of school psychology, we often put a premium on evidence-based practices, but what is often missing from these conversations is a consideration of replication and open science principles in the evaluation of evidence. Amid growing concerns regarding the replicability of psychological science, calls for greater research…