Investigate
WE INVESTIGATE
How can research inspire action in real-world settings?
We investigate how research is designed, shared, and rooted in practice to improve education systems for all. We seek to understand how research questions are shaped, who designs and influences studies, and how evidence reflects—and adapts with—real-world contexts.
OUR APPROACH TO INVESTIGATION
We study how research is designed and used in education today so we can help strengthen the research–policy–practice connection and support meaningful actions that reach all educators, students, and communities.
- We study how research use is evolving—and what it takes for evidence to matter in real K–12 settings.
- We strengthen the infrastructure for shared learning, building routines and supports that make ongoing learning possible.
- We pair research with local wisdom and context, drawing on practitioner knowledge alongside research.
- We build practical tools and activities that draw on research ideas that can be adapted for individual settings.
- We work alongside educators, policymakers, funders, and researchers to engage research in ways that make a meaningful difference in day-to-day work.
OUR INQUIRY TOPICS
- How research is actually used by education systems leaders as a part of their day-to-day work
- What makes research-practice partnerships effective in their local, unique contexts
- How individual studies connect - or don’t - as research knowledge develops over time
EXAMPLES OF OUR INVESTIGATION
How is NSF EDU Portfolio structured in relation to the particular, complex challenge of improving preK-12 STEM teaching and learning?
We are in the midst of an NSF-funded study to critically map the landscape of preK-12 STEM education research between 2013 and 2026. Our novel approach is a partnership with computer and network scientists at CU Boulder who are supporting us to leverage Large Language Models and network analysis to meaningfully and efficiently characterize studies and analyze relationships across a portfolio of 3,613 NSF-funded studies.
How have Wallace-funded research reports and insights traveled into policy, practice and communities?
We are part of a team funded to examine how Wallace-funded research has moved from generation towards use by educators, policymakers, practitioners, and other constituencies. The study seeks to highlight the factors that support uptake, the challenges that limit influence, and the conditions that help research contribute to change.
How can we define, measure, and support RPP effectiveness?
Funded by the William T. Grant Foundation, we conducted the largest study to-date of education RPPs in the United States in collaboration with the National Network for Education Research Practice Partnerships and multiple evaluators of RPPs.
What dynamics shape education RPPs?
Over the years, we have sought to more deeply understand the particular dynamics and practices of RPPs through a range of lines of inquiry. A core assumption of our work is that rather than identifying "best" practices, there is a need to advance understanding of when, under which conditions, for whom, and with what tradeoffs RPPs make progress toward their goals.
How can we usefully understand the complex realities of equity-centered district systems transformation?
Too often, research and guidance focus on naming what improvers should do, with less attention to how improvers actually engage in the ongoing, improvisational, judgment-filled work of practicing improvement for equity.