Supporting teachers to use research evidence well in practice

This report describes ways that schools can build teachers’ and leaders’ confidence in using research evidence, and why this is important. It presents findings from independent surveys conducted by the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO) and the Monash Q Project.

Overall findings and guidance

Nearly 1,400 school teachers and leaders were surveyed across all Australian states and territories in 2020 and 2021.

AERO and the Q Project used the survey data to examine the relationship between support provided by schools, confidence in using research evidence and use of research evidence in practice. This report therefore uses empirical data to examine the importance of school support, and the role that confidence plays in the use of research evidence.

We found that when teachers and leaders are supported by their school to use research evidence, they are:

• more confident in using research evidence
• more likely to use research evidence in their practice.

The support can include being given dedicated time, professional learning, and access to a coach or school leader in a specialised research dissemination role or with specialised research expertise.

Additional findings include:

• Many teachers and leaders indicated that their school provides support to use research evidence.
• While teachers and leaders believed in the value of using research evidence, research evidence was not often used to help improve knowledge or practice or to make decisions.
• Teachers and leaders had some concerns about their abilities to assess or analyse research evidence. These confidence gaps represent important opportunities to target improvement initiatives in schools.

Context

Increasingly, teachers, leaders, schools and school systems are becoming aware that using evidence generated from academic research (also referred to as research evidence) can improve their practice (Nelson and Campbell 2019). When school leaders and teachers engage with research evidence, their own teaching skills can improve (for example, Bell et al. 2010; Godfrey 2016), and learning and school performance outcomes also improve (for example, Mincu 2014; Supovitz 2015; Rose et al. 2017). These findings provide powerful reasons to use research evidence to inform practice.

But using research evidence well and incorporating it into practice is complex and demanding work.

‘Evidence is important, but what is more important is […] teacher expertise and professionalism [to] make better judgments about when, and how, to use research.’
(Wiliam 2019)

This ‘expertise and professionalism’ requires teachers and school leaders to value research evidence and to want to use it to improve their practice. It also requires teachers and leaders to have confidence in their own skills and knowledge to engage with research evidence (Rickinson et al. 2021a). Recent Australian studies have made clear that teachers and leaders require support and resources to do this (for example, Parker et al. 2020; Prendergast and Rickinson, 2019; Rickinson et al. 2021b; Walsh et al. 2022).

Purpose of this report

This report offers guidance to build teachers’ and leaders’ confidence in using research evidence, and to increase the use of research evidence in schools.
The report does this by:

• explaining the importance of different individual and school characteristics that can enable the increased and improved use of research evidence
• demonstrating, with empirical findings, how support provided by a school to use research evidence increases teachers’ and leaders’ confidence in using, as well as actual use of, research evidence (Figure 1)
• guiding schools to focus on key supports that can help teachers and leaders to build their confidence and skills to use research evidence, and use it well.

The report draws on 2 independent surveys; one conducted by the Monash Q Project in 2020 and one conducted by AERO in 2021, with a total of 1,389 teachers and school leaders across all Australian states and territories. The methods used to collect and analyse survey responses are summarised in Appendices 1 and 2.

‘If educators are more research engaged and connected…teaching and learning improvements are likely to follow’
(Malin and Brown 2020)

Factors that enable the use of research evidence

The use of research evidence in schools is influenced by a range of factors (Dagenais et al. 2012; van Schaik et al. 2018). Some of these factors include the characteristics of individual teachers and school leaders themselves. Several previous studies have found that individuals’ beliefs, motivations and confidence regarding the use of research evidence are important influences on their use of research evidence in practice (for example, Judkins et al. 2014; Lysenko et al. 2014; Penuel et al. 2017; Williams and Coles 2007). Other influencing factors are contextual and include school-based supports, such as scheduled time, professional learning opportunities, effective leadership, and a school culture that encourages and facilitates research evidence use (Cain 2019; Cooper and Levin 2013; Godfrey and Brown 2019).

Quality Use of Research Evidence (QURE) Framework

One way to imagine how these different enablers of research evidence use can come together in a school context is through the Monash Q Project’s Quality Use of Research Evidence (QURE) Framework (Rickinson et al. 2020). As depicted in Figure 2, this framework sees the quality use of research evidence as ‘thoughtful engagement with and implementation of appropriate research evidence’. Quality use of research evidence is supported by a blend of 3 individual enabling components – skillsets, mindsets and relationships – and 3 organisational enabling components – culture, leadership and infrastructure. Together, these individual and organisational factors have the potential to increase and improve the use of research evidence in practice.

Teachers’ and leaders’ perspectives

Teachers’ and leaders’ perspectives play an important role in moving discussions about research evidence use beyond the theoretical (for example, Boaz and Nutley 2019). They also shed light on what is involved in using research evidence well in practice and how it can be supported.

Supports to use research evidence are available

Overall, teachers and school leaders generally agree that supports to use research evidence are available at their school (see Box 1 for types of supports). For instance, 80% of respondents in AERO’s survey agreed/strongly agreed that their leaders share and discuss evidence to improve practice (Figure 3). In the Q Project survey, 87% of respondents agreed/strongly agreed that their school facilitates a professional learning community that supported their evidence use (Figure 4).

Some types of support, however, were not as common as others, such as the availability of coaching within schools (in AERO’s sample) or the provision of time by schools (in the Q Project’s sample). Overall, though, supports reported by teachers and school leaders provide a good opportunity for enabling greater and improved research evidence use.

Schools value research evidence more than they use it

Previous research from the Q Project has highlighted that teachers and school leaders believe in the value of using research to inform their practice (Rickinson et al. 2021b; Walsh et al. 2022). The Q Project’s survey in this study showed that 83% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that using research will help improve student outcomes.

Despite these strong beliefs in the value of research evidence, just under half of teachers and school leaders use research evidence often in practice (Figure 5). For instance, 43% of respondents in the Q Project survey said they consulted university-based research articles always/often to help inform their decisions. The same percentage (43%) of respondents in the AERO survey said they consulted academic research often/very often for their own knowledge.

‘We make sure that all the staff have an understanding [of the research] … and [we] support them to get them along the way. … We develop an essential agreement; how it will be taught, what’s expected. … From there, we support them in the classroom … and it’s a continual process of supporting the teachers.’
Senior Leader, Government Primary School,
Q Project

Opportunities to build confidence in using research evidence

One reason for research evidence not being used often may be a lack of confidence. Teachers and school leaders in both AERO’s survey (Figure 6) and the Q Project’s survey (Figure 7) expressed some concerns about their own abilities to use research evidence in practice. In particular, just under half (46%) of the respondents in the AERO survey were mostly/very confident about determining the rigour and quality of research, while 45% of respondents in the Q Project survey agreed/strongly agreed that they felt confident to initiate discussions about research with their colleagues.

These confidence gaps represent important opportunities to target improvement initiatives within schools. Work conducted by the Q Project (Walsh et al. 2022) found that these initiatives should focus on (in rank order):

1. identifying issues where consulting research evidence would be appropriate
2. assessing the usability of research evidence
3. assessing research evidence for contextual relevance and fit.

‘There’s almost barriers to entry with [research use], because when people don’t feel that they’re particularly confident with it…[then they don’t use it]’
Middle Leader, Government Secondary School, Q Project

Building confidence through support improves research evidence use

Across both studies there was a clear relationship between schools’ support of research evidence use, teachers’ and leaders’ confidence, and the frequency of their research evidence use¹.

When teachers and leaders are supported by their school to use research evidence, they are:

• more confident in using research evidence
• more likely to use research evidence in their practice.

Confidence in using research evidence is important because it explains some of the relationship between support provided by a school and use of research evidence in practice. Specifically, provision of support can improve confidence, which in turn can foster greater use of research evidence in practice (Figure 8).

These findings emphasise the importance of providing support to improve use of research evidence in practice. Therefore, focusing on improving a school’s culture and infrastructure around using research evidence can help to support teachers’ confidence to use research evidence, as well as their use of this evidence in practice.

Conclusion

This collaborative report between AERO and the Monash Q Project outlines ways to increase and improve use of research evidence in a school’s practices and decision-making.

The report shows that teachers and leaders are more confident in using research evidence and are more likely to use research evidence in their practice when supported to do so by their school.

In summary, focusing on providing supports to use research evidence though a school’s culture and infrastructure can improve research evidence use. The findings of this study can also provide a frame for school leaders and teachers to reflect on the use of research evidence in their context and the supports provided by their schools. By drawing on the guidance provided in this report, school leaders and teachers can work together to harness the potential of research evidence use for their own professional improvement, as well as to drive school-wide improvements in teaching and learning.

Guidance for providing support at your school

Insights from both AERO’s and the Q Project’s work suggest several supports can help improve a school’s culture and infrastructure around using research evidence, which can then lead to increased and improved use of research evidence in practice below.

Appendices

Download the full report (PDF, 3.6MB) to view the appendices:

• Appendix 1: Sample and data collection methods 
• Appendix 2: Statistical model 

Keywords: educational data, data analysis, evidence-based education, evidence-based teaching