A Mediation Analysis of Organizational Conditions and Schools’ Deep Use of Research

• In Event: Organizational Dynamics in Educational Effectiveness: Exploring Conditions, Leadership, and Typologies

Abstract

Expectations for use of research evidence have grown globally but are rarely accompanied by guidance or support for building capacity for evidence use. At the same time, research has established that research use is complex and that a wide range of factors can support or constrain its role in policy and practice. This paper presents findings from a national study, leveraging unique, large scale quantitative data to develop a predictive model of relationships among these factors and schools’ use of research. Findings from structural equation models reveal that key organizational conditions mediate factors such as research brokerage and capacity to critique research. Implications relate to priority areas for capacity building and for future measurement of school use of research.

Authors

• Elizabeth N. Farley-Ripple, University of Delaware

• Henry May, University of Delaware

• Samuel Van Horne, University of Delaware