Calls for evidence-based practice are pervasive. In response, extensive scholarship has employed four categories of research use--instrumental, symbolic, conceptual, and imposed--to examine how research is used in schools and districts. We draw on sociocultural learning theory and empirical data from one school district to newly theorize latent…

Purpose: Decades of scholarship have drawn on Weiss's four categories of research use (Weiss, 1980; 2005; Weiss & Bucuvalas, 1980) -- instrumental use, symbolic use, conceptual use, and imposed use -- to examine how research use unfolds in school districts (e.g., Amara et al., 2004; Penuel et al., 2017). In this paper, we theorize a new form…

In this article, I share a design-based research intervention meant to help mathematics district leaders build their capacity to engage with research quality. I present my design (i.e., principles, key features, and intervention structure) and elaborate on how the features of the design allowed for mathematics district leaders' sensemaking of…

Research provides ample evidence that positive social relations and access to knowledge are supportive for educational change. However, few studies have examined how personnel turnover and restructuring in school districts influence these processes, specifically as they relate to leaders' access to research evidence and perception of…

Purpose: We examine considerations regarding the positive contributions of evidence accountability and challenges that frustrate educators in gaining access to the needed product information. Design/Approach/Methods: We review the research literature on the multiple characteristics of evidence relative to consumer (practitioner) interests. We then…

In this study, we examine principals' data use within four districts are engaged in district-level professional learning around equity. Drawing on Gutierrez's framework for dimensions of equity, we consider how principals engage in data use in light of the dimensions of access, achievement, identity, and power. Findings suggest each district had…

The role of district research leaders (DRLs) in central offices has emerged as a strategy for improving the creation, flow, and use of research knowledge in decision-making. However, there is limited information about the responsibilities, opportunities, and challenges inherent in these roles. This exploratory qualitative study features document…

The Every Student Succeeds Act builds on prior efforts to bridge the gap between research and practice through the imposition of evidence requirements. This article presents findings from a small-scale micro-process study of three districts in one state during their first year of implementing those requirements. Informed by past conceptualizations…

Background: In today's era of evidence-based policymaking, policymakers face pressure to use research evidence to inform their decisions. This is particularly salient in the United States, where federal law mandates that education leaders implement policies, programs, and strategies that have been demonstrated to improve student outcomes. Despite…

As the primary agency responsible for enforcing federal civil rights laws in the educational context, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issues policy guidance to help ensure that school districts and universities understand their legal obligations. These policy guidance documents have direct connections to topics…

Despite calls for evidence-based decision making, the field has a limited understanding of how educational leaders actually engage research. This study draws on a nationally representative sample of 368 district and school leaders who named pieces of research that were useful to their work. Educational leaders found frameworks and practical…

Measuring the use of research evidence (URE) by schools has become a central focus of education researchers. However, it has proven challenging due to low response rates, social desirability bias, and costly or time-consuming data collection methods. To overcome these challenges and meet the needs of research focused on URE, this paper introduces…

Education policy continues to press for increased use of research evidence in decision-making, yet decades of research point to weak links between research and practice. We see evidence-informed improvement not as a problem with schools, but with a larger evidence-use ecosystem. As a step toward building and strengthening multidirectional paths…

This problem-based learning project sought to determine the current status of new-teacher induction programs in the Saint Louis Metropolitan Area. The team wanted to capture district leader perceptions on the presence of new-teacher induction elements in an effort to determine the current level of implementation of new-teacher induction programs…

This problem-based learning project sought to determine the current status of new-teacher induction programs in the Saint Louis Metropolitan Area. The team wanted to capture district leader perceptions on the presence of new-teacher induction elements in an effort to determine the current level of implementation of new-teacher induction programs…