The “Grammar” of Improvement Research (Poster 1)

• In Event: Mapping the Landscape of Improvement Research: Representing Diverse Approaches Using a Common Grammar

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this poster is to introduce a common framework for representing, comparing, and contrasting formal approaches to improvement research in education.

Perspective

Improvement research is an umbrella term for formal research approaches that support the incubation and use of locally developed innovations, the adoption and use of externally developed innovations, and the analysis and use of research evidence as a resource for local innovation (Author, 2024b). Examples include action research, community-based research, design-based implementation research, and improvement science, among others.

Such approaches to improvement research are adapted for use by different people, in different roles, in different contexts, and to address different types of educational opportunities, needs, and problems. Toward evidencing improvement research as a coherent genre of educational research, there is a need to represent these diverse approaches in common ways both to see their similarities and to understand their differences.

As an analytical perspective, one means of doing so is by developing a practical framework for describing research activities that are (a) common among approaches to improvement research and (b) enacted differently within specific approaches.

Modes of Inquiry

Our method of developing a practical framework was to engage nine members of the Improvement Scholars Network in the collaborative design of an introductory professional learning series on improvement research and continuous improvement (Author, 2024).

Analysis

Our analysis proceeded in three steps: drawing from prior research to develop a provisional practical framework (Author, 2020; Author, 2022); refining the provisional framework via case studies of improvement initiatives that use four formal approaches to improvement research (Author, 2024a); and further refining the framework by using it to structure an introductory course focused on one formal method (Author, 2024b).

Findings

While different approaches to improvement have their own vocabulary, routines, and norms, our analysis suggests five common domains of practical work shared among a wide array of approaches (Author, 2024). These domains of work reflect a “grammar” or structure that facilitates moving among, comparing, and contrasting approaches. These domains include:

Building the foundational conditions by enlisting participants; cultivating shared understandings of fundamental principles; establishing roles, structures, and routines; and developing norms, values, and cultural orientations.

Mapping the improvement space by identifying, building consensus around, and understanding the opportunities, needs, or problems that become the focus of collaborative work.

Identifying a theory of (and ideas for) improvement by developing interventions, the theory or rationale underlying them, and the evidence and experience supporting them.

Iterating and measuring by enacting specific ideas for improvement in practice contexts; measuring implementation and outcomes; evaluating whether the idea is supporting progress; and iteratively refining both the idea and the underlying theory of improvement.

Spreading and sustaining improvement by recreating (a) theoretical and practical knowledge within and between local contexts and (b) the capabilities to use, test, and improve such knowledge.

Significance

The significance of this practical framework lies in its power to represent improvement research as a coherent genre while also evidencing differences among formal approaches.


References

Author, 2020

Author, 2022

Author, 2024a

Author, 2024b

Authors

• Donald J. Peurach, University of Michigan

• Jennifer Lin Russell, Vanderbilt University

• Angela Lyle, University of Michigan

• Daniel Zelig Marks, Vanderbilt University