Educational Research Council

Holds Inaugural Meeting

Kim Yap and Sam Stringfield Nationally recognized scholars who serve on the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's Educational Research Council met in late April to discuss how scientifically based research can be applied to on-the-ground education. Organized by the Research Unit of the Center for Research, Evaluation, and Assessment, the council is part of NWREL's ongoing attempt to adapt to what NWREL CEO Carol Thomas calls the "shift in the conversation" about educational research and technical assistance.

In her opening remarks to the council, Thomas presented two focus questions for this inaugural meeting: How can NWREL partner with researchers to improve research methodology? And how can the Laboratory's expertise in working directly with practitioners inform the work of researchers?

The council steering committee includes Ray Barnhardt, University of Alaska Fairbanks; Bill Demmert, Jr., Western Washington University; Allen Glenn and Dan Goldhaber of the University of Washington; and Sam Stringfield, University of Louisville.

In addition to the steering committee, the full council includes Michael L. Kamil, Stanford University; Joan Herman, University of California-Los Angeles; Carolyn M. Keeler, University of Idaho; LeAnne K. Robinson, Western Washington University; Lynn Santelmann, Portland (Oregon) State University; Michael J. Puma, Chesapeake Research Associates (Annapolis, Maryland); and Audrey B. Champagne, State University of New York-Albany. Eight members of the 12-member council were present for the spring session.

The advisory council will work as both advisors and partners in research-related projects with NWREL's four Centers of Excellence. For this meeting, the council focused on how the current demand for experimental, scientifically based research relates to both broad-based organizational interventions such as the Onward to Excellence (OTE) II school reform model and to specific instructional treatments such as 6+1 Trait® Writing.

"In the current environment, teachers are under a tremendous amount of pressure to raise student achievement," observed council member LeAnne Robinson. "If they can't see the connection between an intervention and student achievement, they won't use it."

In the past, Thomas said, such interventions and instructional treatments typically began from a research perspective and included an evaluation process, but rarely involved control groups, randomized trials, and other elements of scientifically based research. Expanding the Laboratory's capacity to conduct these kinds of studies, while continuing its tradition of applying research directly into the classroom, is the primary objective of the council.