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 replication-extension study (Earley & Galluzzo, 2015) examined the information seeking activities of British Columbia (BC) school trustees in an effort to understand the transmission of research. Trustees were asked to identify the sources they used for acquiring research and information in the process of decision-making. The frequency of…

Given the pace of their work, school administrators often find it difficult to sift through the massive volume of primary academic research produced each year to find specific pieces that might be useful to inform their practice. In response to this issue, the author developed and implemented a strategy to filter research for local relevance and…

In this paper we compare the use of research and other evidence in the decision-making practices of two groups of education policy elites, situated in different contexts--provincial education ministries and school districts. Data are derived from two pan-Canadian studies: Galway (2006) and Sheppard, Galway, Brown and Wiens (2013). The findings…

The purpose of this study was to assess the role of Competitive and Market Intelligence (CI/MI) Research as a potential source for improving the innovation capability of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME's) leading to successful new product/services/processes/capabilities development (Cooper & Edgett, 2002). This report highlights the…

Of 833 Canadian government officials surveyed, 12% always/often and 16% never receive relevant university research; 53% of research results have rarely or never influenced decisions. Multivariate regression analyses identified these predictors of research use: users' efforts to find and adapt research, organizational context, and researcher-user…

Articles in this special issue discuss the utilization of social research by governmental commissions. How social science knowledge influences their decision making is examined. (RM)

An example is provided of an evaluation in which the formulation of explicit decision rules was a central activity. The case for and against the use of decision rules in program evaluation is considered, and the appropriate context identified. Implications for the rights of decision makers are addressed. (Author/CTM)