Empower Your Teaching: The Power of Evidence-Based Education
Matthew B. Courtney, Ed.D. | January 2024 | 5 Minute Read
Table of Contents
An Evidence-Informed Educator is an Empowered Educator!
The Critical Role of Evidence-Based Education in Empowering Teachers
How Empowered Educators Influence Student Success
TL;DR: This post explores how evidence-based education empowers teachers to improve classroom practice and advocate for students, highlighting key strategies like action research and data use.
Introduction
In 2015, the US Congress passed the Every Student Succeeds Act, better known as ESSA. This was a landmark moment for education, giving us a clear definition of what it means to use evidence-based practices in the classroom. Suddenly, educational research wasn't just for university scholars—it was for every teacher in every (underfunded) public school across the country.
But then, policymakers started rolling out clearinghouses and systematic reviews, essentially saying, 'Don’t worry, teachers, we’ll handle the research for you.' To that, I say—HOGWASH! Educators are professionals, and we deserve to engage with the research ourselves.
An Evidence-Informed Educator is an Empowered Educator!
Educators are highly trained, highly skilled professionals capable of consuming research literature and drawing their own conclusions to inform their classroom practice. It’s offensive to suggest that research is too difficult for teachers to understand and that they should blindly trust think tanks or product vendors who twist research to fit their narratives.
The push to keep teachers out of the research loop is part of a long history of keeping them confined to classrooms, away from public discourse. But here’s the truth: an evidence-informed educator is an empowered educator! When teachers understand the research behind their classroom practices, they become not just better educators but also stronger advocates for their students and the profession.
The Critical Role of Evidence-Based Education in Empowering Teachers
We are seeing this play out in real time across the nation as educators in the United States grapple with what many have called “The Reading Wars”. Empowered educators that have steeped themselves in the science of reading are beginning to push back against curriculum publishers, policy makers, and professional development providers who are pushing their own profit-seeking agendas at the expense of a generation of poor readers. These educators have learned to leverage the power of research evidence to inform their argument, shape their teaching practice, and propel their students to greater success.
While the Reading Wars have been well covered in the national media, my work with educators across the nation have uncovered many examples of educators using research evidence to advocate for change. Once, while teaching a workshop on accessing and synthesizing research evidence, a superintendent in attendance uncovered that a vendor he had been working with LIED to him about the proper interpretation of a research outcome. Empowered with this new information, he called and ended his contract negotiations with this vendor during the lunch break.
I recently heard from a teacher who had attended a workshop I presented at a national conference. Her school was undergoing an arduous series of professional development workshops that were simply not translating to greater classroom success. She used the methods she learned in the workshop to challenge the trainer about her theories. The workshop quickly unfolded after the trainer admitted that she had no evidence to support her technique and that she just felt like it was a good idea. Her principal ended the training early.
These empowered educators are just scratching the surface of what an evidence informed teaching profession can accomplish. If educators can embrace the use of research evidence and truly self-actualize as an evidence-informed profession, we can empower the millions of classroom educators across this nation to take hold of the profession and push for meaningful, evidence-based changes for our students.
How Empowered Educators Impact Student Success
If you’ve made it this far into the post, you’re probably wondering – where do we begin? That is a great question! There are many things that classroom educators can do to become more empowered through evidence use.
1. Use data to inform classroom decisions.
Educators are expert data collectors. They collect achievement data, behavior data, attendance data, participation data, family engagement data… the list can go on and on. One of the fastest ways that you can become an empowered, evidence-informed educator is to thoughtfully use that data to inform your instructional decisions. Is there something happening in your classroom that isn’t working? Use your data to elevate your voice and advocate for a change in policy or practice in your school!
It can be challenging to get started with data if you aren’t comfortable with it. I think the best way to learn about data use is through the exploratory data analysis process. My book, Exploratory Data Analysis in the classroom was written to guide classroom teachers through the data review process. You may also benefit from watching the videos or deploying the free auto-analysis tools available in The Repository.
2. Participate in action research.
Do you have an innovation that you want to try out in your classroom? Action research is the thing for you! Educational action research is research that is made by and for educators in the classroom. Through this work, you can apply the scientific method to thoughtfully test, document, understand, and share your innovations with the world.
Empower educators and transform teaching through evidence-based strategies that enhance educational outcomes.
Action research empowers educators by helping them to understand the impact of their home-grown interventions. Teachers across the country are doing remarkable things in their classrooms that nobody knows about. By deploying the action research methodology during the intervention implementation procedures, you can demonstrate and document your success in a meaningful and accepted way. Who knows, maybe one day that intervention will be named after you!
3. Incorporate literature review into your professional learning plan.
The best educators are those who are committed to their own professional learning and growth. Just as new learning can empower our kiddos to reach new heights, professional learning can be incredibly empowering for educators. Unfortunately, many educators are subjected to ineffective professional learning delivered by belittling trainers on topics that aren’t related to their individual needs.
By incorporating literature review into your professional learning plan, educators will be empowered with new knowledge that is rooted in the science of teaching and directly tied to their needs. Research review allows educators to take their learning into their own hands, respond to time sensitive problems, and discover new solutions to persistent problems of practice. I also think that research review can be a powerful component of professional learning communities too! Reading research with your colleagues is an incredibly valuable experience.
4. Share your locally sourced evidence with your colleagues.
Educators are, by their very nature, innovative scientists. They are constantly responding to new problems and testing new solutions and strategies in real time. Unfortunately, nobody knows about the cool stuff that is going on within the four walls of the classroom. Educators can become empowered by collecting their local evidence and sharing it broadly with their peers.
There are many ways to share your work with the world. You could post about it on a blog or invite the local media into your classroom to take pictures and write a story about the cool work you’re doing. You could publish an action research article or present about your work at a professional development or research conference. You could engage in a research-practice partnership and invite a grad student from a local university to come study your intervention and report about it; paying it forward and helping to empower and advance two careers at the same time!
Conclusion
Regardless of the specific steps you take, engaging with research evidence is an incredibly powerful way to empower yourself and your colleagues. When educators can clearly defend the decisions they make, they demand the respect that their profession deserves. Evidence allows educators to better advocate for positive changes that improve teaching and learning conditions in their schools and to fight back against policy decisions that get in the way. I hope that this post has inspired you to engage with the evidence that informs the teaching profession and that it will help you to unlock your power to change the world.
Good luck on your journey friends and let me know how I can help!