This EAGER project develops and tests a new model for integrating education research and evaluation with education innovation and practice. This project explores using a Network Improvement Community which aims to eliminate the silos that frequently arise in communities driven by theoretical interests. Instead, researchers are encouraged to collaborate with practitioners and design/developers on understanding and solving high-leverage problems of practice. The approach developed in the proposal provides an alternative to the usual investigator-driven one that guides most education research efforts.
The model will be developed and tested in the context of Statway, a large educational improvement project focused on community college developmental mathematics led by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Specifically, the project will create and develop a research network that will function as one component of Statway. The project will determine if researchers and students, and can be recruited into the network and sustain their engagement in investigating a significant problem of practice.
