For Teachers

When your usual strategies aren’t working, you can turn your classroom questions and sticking points into opportunities to learn. Research can help you investigate a challenge, try something new, and see what happens.

The Research Ripple Effect

Research Practice Partnerships can advance educational change and build on the broader knowledge base.

Successful interventions you test may be scaled to other classrooms, schools, or districts. Your participation helps build evidence for what works (or doesn't, which is just as important) in real contexts.

What's the process to engage in research?

Explore HERE to learn about the steps that need to be taken before formal research can begin with students.

University researchers must follow a specific workflow when engaging in school-based research. Requirements come from both their university’s IRB (Institutional Review Board) and Worcester’s research application processes. Depending on who data is being collected from (students, teachers, guardians, etc.), researchers must get specific approvals and consents.

Additionally, most school districts require school principals to first agree to research occurring in the schools. Check with your principal about your interest in engaging in research.

You could 1) become involved in active, ongoing, or already approved research projects or 2) connect with a researcher to co-develop a research question based on challenges and ideas you have in your classroom.

What can research look like in a K-12 classroom?

Research can mean adding a formal "research study" to your classroom, and it can mean embedding something new into what you already do. Research can look like a lot things including:

What should teachers expect when participating in a research project?

TIME COMMITMENTS:

The time commitments vary significantly by the nature of the study. It's important to know what kind of time commitment you are willing and able to give.

For example, completing a survey or assigning a link to students through Google Classroom requires can be completed relatively quickly, while co-designing a study could involve weekly check-ins.

PROTECTING STUDENT PRIVACY:

Expect to take privacy seriously. Student data privacy requires careful attention in research. In order for a study to be approved by the Office of Research and Accountability (that’s what it’s called in WPS) and enter a classroom, it must meet laws to protect students.

UNDERSTAND RESEARCH GOALS:

Each project will have different goals. For example, research can explore the:

impacts of different instructional strategies on reading comprehension
impacts of different classroom groupings on student participation
impacts of different feedback methods on student discourse

Are you ready to engage in research?

Think about ways to make research work with your schedule:

What does my practice, classroom, or school need from this research experience?
Do I have the school’s support and time to participate?
Will participating in research add demands on my students that pull from their current responsibilities/routines?
What capacity do I and my team have for data collection and feedback?
What level of involvement am I capable of having?

How can I get started?

There are multiple ways to initially connect with researchers. Reach out to have an initial conversation. No commitment is required to express interest.

Join a Professional Development Opportunity: Make new connections at a workshop or a training that interests you.

Join an upcoming research opportunity often shared through:
- The ERC's Current Research Opportunities
- Direct outreach
- School announcements (university researchers often share opportunities through school leadership)
- Educational Conferences
- Internal Postings on (e.g., WPS uses TeachPoint and Vector)

Co-create research opportunities:
- Speak with your Principal and/or Curriculum Director who can act as a bridge between classroom teachers and local university researchers
- Join the Education Research Collaboratory and email the Directory with your grade, subject, and classroom challenges/areas of interest.

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