Research Supporting Practice in Education (RSPE) PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: Dr. Ben Levin & Dr. Creso Sa OISE KM TEAM: Amanda Cooper, Brenton Faubert, Joannie Leung, Sharon Li, Shalini Mascarenhas, Jie Qi, Kathy Thompson, Anita Ram OPTIONAL LOGO HERE OPTIONAL LOGO HERE CEA PROJECT: RESEARCH USE AND ITS IMPACT IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS KNOWLEDGE MOBILIZATION (KM) GETTING THE RIGHT INFORMATION TO THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT FORMAT AT THE RIGHT TIME SO AS TO INFLUENCE DECISION-MAKING MOVING KNOWLEDGE INTO ACTIVE SERVICE FOR THE BROADEST POSSIBLE COMMON GOOD THE PROCESS FROM THE CREATION OF EVIDENCE TO ITS ULTIMATE IMPACT COLLABORATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING BETWEEN RESEARCHERS AND DECISION MAKERS THAT HAPPENS THROUGH LINKAGE AND EXCHANGE WEBSITE ANALYSIS PROJECT: EVALUATING KM IN ORGANIZATIONS targets secondary school educational leaders (superintendents, principals and others with designated leadership roles ) 188 Respondents to Phase 1 Survey OVERVIEW: Examine KM in Organizations by evaluating Products, Events & Networks on more than 200 Websites CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK I RESEARCH QUESTIONS 1. How do educators learn about research findings?  2. In what ways do the school systems support or inhibit the use of research? 3. What knowledge do educational leaders have about some important research findings related to improving secondary schools? 4. How do these research findings affect district and school policies, programs, resource allocations and other decisions? 5.What interventions might most effectively and efficiently improve the availability and use of research in and for secondary schools? Accessibility Perceived Quality Characteristics of the research Research background Interest level Supporting processes and structures Characteristics of the educators and schools General and professional media experts Professional development providers Role of third parties as distributors of knowledge What “Knowledge”? tacit explicit embodied encultured discourses research evidence innovations standards indicators routines best practices With or to whom? In whose Interests? Individuals Groups Organizations Systems The Public knowledge brokers researchers Administrators practitioners parents community members policy makers For What Purposes? “Used” How? Problem solving: change or influence practice decisions policy – development; implementation Enlightenment Empowerment Political In What Context? government boards agencies schools districts regions communities work places universities media What Techniques? guidelines training & workshops infrastructure lobbying interventions incentives facilitation information technology communities of practice With What Impact/ Effect? Instrumental Conceptual Symbolic Improving teaching and learning Student Outcomes Student Engagement Changing practice Influencing policy PRELIMINARY TRENDS: 1. More products than events and networks (diversity within each) 2. Organizations not very engaged in KM work (as evidenced from their websites) 3. Much of the Dissemination seems passive (relies on users) 4. Best KM occurring in think-tanks, third party agencies with explicit KM mandate CEA PROJECT: FINDINGS FROM PHASE ONE CEA PROJECT PHASE TWO: INTERVENTIONS AREAS OF INTEREST ASSESSED BY SURVEY QUESTIONS Knowledge Claims Level of agreement with the claim Source of information that supports your knowledge of this statement Research Report PD Events Professional Network/Colleagues Personal Experience Data collected in your school/district Importance of the source of information in your acceptance of this particular claim The first activity involves providing districts with some readily-available sources of good research on secondary schools and student success (newsletters, websites, readings) that can be distributed and used as each district chooses. System to share research articles The second activity involves creating study groups of district leaders (6 to 10 people in a group) who would meet a few times during the year to discuss important research on secondary school improvement. Districts will be provided with the relevant material. Study groups around research issues The third activity is to implement an intervention to track your former students’ post-high school destinations and to use these data to inform district planning for secondary schools. Districts will be provided with a methodology and survey instrument for this activity, which can be carried out by secondary students as part of a course. Tracking Post-school Destinations Research Culture Research Use Research focused events School practices Research Activities: Events, Resources, Networking Report & Analyze data sources FUTURE STEPS: We are currently working on a system of quality measures organizations can use to assess their KM work Student pathways and trajectories SSHRC PROJECT: KNOWLEDGE MOBILIZATION IN FACULTIES OF EDUCATION Objective: This study examines the strategies used and steps taken by Canadian universities and faculties of education in comparison with leading international faculties to make research more accessible and available to the broader education community as well as looking for evidence on the results of these measures. Success factors for students Research Culture > Strongly positive about extent to which research is used in districts > More similarities than differences across districts > Lack of Knowledge about institutional research infrastructure. One exception is a board which has made consistent effort in KM; 94% of this district knew infrastructure existed, suggesting that efforts to give more profile to research does have an impact Knowledge Claims > Strong agreement on 3 out of 6 Knowledge Claims 1.Disengagment results in drop outs 2.Student outcomes vary widely in schools with similar demographics 3.Quality of teaching determining factor in post-secondary pursuit > Lack of agreement on 3 out of 6 Knowledge Claims Students failing one course in Gr. 9 at Greater risk of dropping out: 63% Agree, 24% Disagree -Notably ON had substantially higher Agreement Secondary school performance predicts post-secondary success: 39% Agree,36% Disagree Most students think high school prepares them for post-secondary: 37% Agree 36%, Disagree CEA PROJECT: IMPLICATIONS RSPE WEBTRACKER & SURVEY I PROJECT WIKI Issues for Districts to Consider Do we have a culture that supports research use? Is this support embedded in our daily processes and systems? Do we have real capacity in our district to find, understand, share and use research? How do we communicate research to our broader community? PARTNERSHIPS: CEA, OISE & 11 SCHOOL DISTRICTS KM LISTSERV KM RESOURCES ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY KM LINKS www.oise.utoronto.ca/rspe POSTER PREPARED BY: Amanda Cooper www.oise.utoronto.ca/rspe