This project seeks to develop, and then test, a new model for integrating education research and evaluation with education innovation and practice. Based on principles of improvement science (à la Deming, Shewhart & Juran) and on the concept of “Networked Improvement Community” (as advanced by Bryk, Gomez & Grunow), this new approach provides an alternative to the normal investigator-driven one that guides most education research efforts. Instead of working in silos on projects driven primarily by theoretical interests, researchers are being supported to collaborate with practitioners and design/developers on understanding and solving high-leverage problems of practice.
