Project Activities
SRI International (SRI) serves as the scaling lead for the LEARN Network with the aim of adapting and scaling adoption of evidence-based practices/products (EBPs) that could help states, districts, schools, and institutions of higher education (IHEs) to address the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on learning. SRI's vision for the Network is to build capacity among researchers and developers to take a human-centered approach to adapting their EBPs with attention to educators' contexts, decision-making processes and criteria, usability and feasibility, and pathways to scaling with fidelity.
To achieve this vision, the team facilitated training, coaching, and collaboration activities with Network teams preparing products for scale, including Targeted Reading Instruction (TRI), Strategic Adolescent Reading Intervention (STARI), Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies Reading with Differentiation (PALS-RD), and Classwide Super Solvers + Math Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (CSS+PALS). Capacity-building activities were based on SRI's proven Invent-Apply-Transition (IAT) approach for scaling innovations, as well as principles of liberatory design and implementation science.
The Network’s LEARN to Scale Toolkit presents the IAT framework for scaling in education and curates insights and resources from these capacity-building activities. Toolkit activities provide a model for ensuring EBPs are developed with the potential to achieve impact at scale for students from the start and offer insights at every stage of the process, from lab to market. Resources include vignettes and lessons learned from education initiatives that have achieved success in scaling. The toolkit can be accessed and used by researchers and developers interested in designing, adapting, testing, and transitioning EBPs for scale.
The team also conducted focused research on how schools and districts procure products and programs to improve teaching and learning. Through two nationally representative surveys of school and district leaders and interviews with state, district, and school leaders, teachers, and parents, the LEARN study identified:
- How school and districts procure products and programs
- How evidence is used in these decisions
- How procurement processes may vary based on the product or program being purchased or the school context
- Challenges to using evidence in procurement decisions
- Supports that would make it easier for educators to find and procure EBPs that align with their students’ needs and contexts
Study briefs and a data dashboard share insights from this research.
The LEARN Network engaged education leaders, experts, and innovators in various activities to identify insights to support scaling evidence use in education. The Network’s Stories of Scaling series showcases the scaling journeys of selected educational products that have achieved some widespread adoption. The Network also hosted many in-person and virtual events to gather experts on various scaling topics, from scaling in rural settings, to envisioning an evidence-based ecosystem, to marketing educational products. Experts also contributed their insights as guest authors and through interviews featured on the LEARN Network blog.
Finally, the team disseminates resources and information about the LEARN Network, through a public website, blog, podcasts, social media, and conference presentations. They also coordinate dissemination across Network teams to maximize exposure of their EBPs in target communities.
Structured Abstract
Setting
The focused research took place in formal K–12 education settings in public and charter schools.
Sample
SRI conducted interviews with approximately 20 education leaders involved in the identification and selection of EBPs, such as principals, superintendents, curriculum directors, and state agency staff that, taken together, span geographic regions and contexts and student groups disproportionally affected by the pandemic. The team also conducted six focus groups with EBP end users, including 20 teachers and parents, from specific populations and contexts reflective of the selected product teams' products. Finally, to triangulate interview findings, the team conducted two nationally representative surveys of approximately 1,000 K-12 public school principals and 200 district leaders (primarily superintendents) through RAND’s American School District Panel (ASDP) and American School Leader Panel (ASLP).
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
Products and publications
The LEARN Network Lead produced research findings and capacity-building tools and resources that can support the design, development, testing and implementation of EBPs at scale. Most Network products are curated and integrated as part of the LEARN to Scale Toolkit. Product lines can also be accessed separately as part of the Stories of Scaling series, research briefs, data dashboard, past events (panels and workshops), and blog posts and podcasts. The LEARN Network regularly shares out information via our newsletter and social media.
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Additional project information
This project serves as the network lead of the Leveraging Evidence to Accelerate Recovery Nationwide (LEARN) Network, which focuses on adapting and preparing to scale existing, evidence-based products that have the potential to accelerate students' learning relative to pre-pandemic rates of growth for the many learners enrolled in kindergarten through grade 12, postsecondary education, or adult education programs whose learning was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A Research Network involves several teams of researchers who are working together to address a critical education problem or issue. The objective is to encourage information sharing, build new knowledge, and assist policymakers and practitioners to strengthen education policies and programs and improve student education outcomes.
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