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Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice: Predicting What Will Work Locally

Cartwright, N; Joyce, K

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Authors

K Joyce



Abstract

This essay addresses the gap between what works in research and what works in practice. Currently, research in evidence-based education policy and practice focuses on RCTs. These can support causal ascriptions (‘It worked’) but provide little basis for local effectiveness predictions (‘It will work here’) which are what matter for practice. We argue that moving from ascription to prediction by way of causal generalization (‘It works’) is unrealistic and urge focusing research efforts directly on how to build local effectiveness predictions. We outline various kinds of information that can improve predictions and encourage using methods better-equipped for acquiring that information. We compare our proposal with others advocating a better mix of methods, like ‘implementation science’, ‘improvement science’, and ‘practice-based evidence’.

Citation

Cartwright, N., & Joyce, K. (2020). Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice: Predicting What Will Work Locally. American Educational Research Journal, 57(3), 1045-1082. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831219866687

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jul 1, 2019
Online Publication Date Aug 1, 2019
Publication Date Jun 30, 2020
Deposit Date Jul 23, 2019
Publicly Available Date Jul 24, 2019
Journal American Educational Research Journal
Print ISSN 0002-8312
Electronic ISSN 1935-1011
Publisher SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 57
Issue 3
Pages 1045-1082
DOI https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831219866687
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1296826

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Copyright Statement
Cartwright, N & Joyce, K (2020). Bridging the Gap between Research and Practice: Predicting What Will Work Locally. American Educational Research Journal 57(3): 1045-1082. Copyright 2019 AERA. http://aerj.aera.net DOI: 10.3102/0002831219866687






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