Research and practice are often considered to be two different worlds. The problems that could attend such a gap are obvious. Stereotypes and misconceptions may emerge, or worse, research is generated that does not prove relevant to the daily work of school leaders and teachers.
So, how do we go about bridging the potential of a research and practice gap?
At the Education Endowment Foundation, we have thought hard about the pressures and priorities of school leaders and teachers. Not only that, but we have also sought to work more actively with schools so that our work is the result of productive collaborations between researchers and practitioners wherever possible.
Content specialists
For the last three years, the EEF has employed teams of content specialists. These are practitioners who are working in schools and early years settings and want to engage with bridging research evidence into practice. Content specialists’ focus areas have included literacy, mathematics, SEND, science, cognitive science, and the early years. Each year, we monitor what areas of research evidence would benefit most from a practitioner perspective and seek out colleagues working in the field.
What is so key about the content specialist team is that they are so close to practice. Most content specialists work for part of the week in their school and the rest of the time at the EEF. Our annual secondment model also makes sure that their expertise in bridging the world of research and practice returns into the classroom.
Content specialists produce targeted campaigns to support busy teachers and school leaders to access meaningful and manageable sources of evidence. For example, a past literacy campaign has focused on reading fluency, whereas our current literacy campaign will focus on ‘disciplinary literacy’ in the year ahead.
Alongside translating and sharing research evidence, the content specialist team have a positive impact on our EEF research agenda, which outlines our focus areas for future research. They share their practice expertise with our teams who work on supporting educational programmes through the evaluations that test their impact and those that manage the studies themselves. These close working relationships help us to make sure that research evidence is well calibrated to the needs and the contexts of busy school and setting leaders and teachers.
Each year we are developing an increasing array of content specialist alumni, who are working in schools and early years settings, but who continue to contribute to our work. With so many experts in both practice and research, we begin to create a meaningful bridge to close the gap in the wider education system.
The Research School Network
Since 2016, the Research School Network has also provided a dynamic bridge between the research evidence generated by the EEF and English schools. The network is now 33 Research Schools strong, with representation across the country, from North Yorkshire to north London, and Cornwall to County Durham.
Research schools share new research and help translate them to local contexts. They also work in innovative regional partnerships to bring research evidence insights to life.
Understandably, busy schools talk and work in close collaboration with their local peers in the system. It’s why the network provides a valuable perspective on the developing work of the EEF, alongside bridging the potential research and practice gap.
The importance of school engagement
We are constantly seeking out ways to better understand the needs of practitioners from settings and schools across the country.
Our annual EEF Reference Group offers a timely insight into the pressures, priorities, and practices of schools. Meeting each term, we listen, learn, and attempt to be sensitive to the needs of practitioners in all the work that we do.
We are constantly seeking to better our understanding of how schools use evidence, or how schools are selecting strategies for their pupil premium spending. Everything we learn helps build a rich evidence picture to help inform our future work.
Given the EEF produce a range of guidance report and tools for practitioners, we also seek to do user testing of our resources. From first-hand experience, we get full, frank – and sometimes brutally honest – feedback on our attempts to transfer research insights into practice.
Bridging the potential research and practice gap is no quick or easy strategy, but we are committed to bringing the two worlds together in powerful partnerships.
If you are interested in hearing more about school engagement opportunities in the future, just email this address with your interest: seg@eefoundation.org.uk.