Although research scholarship offers valuable guidance to those hoping to use improvement science in their teaching and practice, it tends to center the perspectives of researchers and EdD program faculty. Less research has focused on the voices of practitioners who use improvement science in their schools and organizations. We draw on sensemaking…

There is increasing interest in research-based education in the Western World as it is assumed to strengthen school improvement capacity. Previous research shows that school principals play a pivotal role in realising such vision. The aim of this article is to explore the influence of principals on research-based education in their local municipal…

This article provides clear and practical guidelines for researchers seeking to use national secondary datasets to conduct evidence-based research. Drawing from our own experiences, we discuss a six-step research process model (Bryan et al., 2010, 2017) to help researchers navigate the use of these datasets. We present examples from the school…

The ELSA intervention was designed to build schools' capacity to support pupils' emotional wellbeing needs from within their own resources. A wide-ranging research base spanning over 10 years has grown around the ELSA intervention. This scoping review was commissioned by the ELSA Network to systematically identify and map the current composition…

In educational research, the complexity of interventions and the diversity of contexts challenge the adequacy of existing reporting standards, primarily tailored for health interventions and randomised controlled trials. Recognising the critical need for appropriate tools to support education research, we developed two checklists: the CheckList Of…

Excellence in research is essential for advancing knowledge, fostering innovation, and addressing societal challenges. This article proposes the INDEX Strategy Framework as a structured, evidence-based guide to optimize the research process. The framework encompasses five critical phases: Identify Focus Areas, Network and Collaborate, Design…

Objective: The precise measurement of treatment fidelity (quantity and quality in the delivery of treatment strategies in an intervention) is essential for intervention development, evaluation, and implementation. Various informants are used in fidelity assessment (e.g., observers, practitioners [clinicians, teachers], clients), but these…

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…

Research at the intersection of social science and genomics, 'sociogenomics', is transforming our understanding of the interplay between genomics, individual outcomes and society. It has interesting and maybe unexpected implications for education research and policy. Here we review the growing sociogenomics literature and discuss its implications…

In 2023, Education Ministers asked that the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) include wellbeing on its 2024 Research Agenda. In 2024, AERO reviewed and expanded on 2 reports that collated evidence for various wellbeing strategies and interventions. These 2 reports (henceforth, the 'initial reports') were: (1) "High Impact…

The current systematic review study explores instructional designer practices to develop a comprehensive understanding of strategies employed by instructional designers and the expectations of the field. Using the PRISMA protocol, a total of 98 articles were included in the review consisting of 65 qualitative, 15 quantitative, and 18 mixed-methods…

Since the 1990s, there has been a growing demand for evidence-based education policy and practice. This demand stems from concerns that education systems are not meeting the needs of a changing world and that education research lacks rigor. While this demand aims to improve the quality of education, silos between different actors often hinder how…

In current educational research communications, especially in English and increasingly also in German publications, the term "evidence" refers to international homogenizing gold standards and is often linked to European evidence policies, large scale assessments and justified and proven knowledge. Against the background of international…

Background: Since the founding of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) in 2002, the field of education research has seen impressive progress in its efforts to understand which interventions can effectively improve student outcomes. This success can be seen in the rise of high-quality causal studies -- including both randomized trials and…

Developing an evidence-base for educational provision can be an arduous journey. To facilitate consistent and accurate implementation of promising approaches, research efforts need to answer questions relating to theoretical coherence, efficacy, effectiveness, cost, ease of use, and acceptability. An evidence-building framework can help us to…