Translational Education Research for Teaching and Student Learning

Welcome to Research at Designed Instruction, LLC. The intent of the research overview is to provide an introduction to the our organization's philosophy of research in education, links to research briefs (our Research Précis) offered as supplemental information to accompany instructional resources provided in LearningLeads™ and PreKorner™, and updates on new products or specialized papers we have developed to assist educators, parents, or organizations.

Our Philosophy of Educational Research

Our belief at Designed Instruction is that good research is research that contributes to student learning—through providing school administrators and teachers with the research-based findings necessary to focus efforts on appropriate and effective instruction and curricular design, through providing parents with what they need to make informed decisions (and make sure others make informed decisions) regarding the educational progress of their children, and by ensuring that organizations that provide educational programs and products have access to services and information that allows them to do what is right (and do it the right way) for children and students. Though there are many forms of important research in education, our organization's focus is on those areas of research that center as directly as possible on what and how we teach for student learning. Educational policy, system analyses, general operating functions—all are important to an extent. However, as much as many of our taxpayer-funded educational institutions involved in "research" would like to claim otherwise, this form of research, though far simpler, does not go where the "rubber meets the road." Learning research is translational. It is purposeful, it strives to uncover what happens in successful homes and classroom learning environments, where the true work and progress of education takes place, and seeks to make sense of these findings so that they may be employed elsewhere to promote similar gains. Additionally—and very relevant considering the state of affairs with "research" in many modern educational arenas—we strongly emphasize that our belief is that research is intended to help parents and education professionals make better decisions that result in improved student learning, and it is done before the fact. It is not intended to build a "selective" case for products that have been available for sale for many years, or to create public anxiety over emotional issues in order to manufacture an impetus for funding support. For the organizations, both non-profit and for-profit, that dedicate themselves to honest courses of action, we applaud. For the others, be ashamed.

The context of the specific research provided at this site

Through LearningLeads™, Designed Instruction provides K-12 education research analyses and syntheses related to instructional strategies and curriculum and learning approaches and designs. Through PreKorner™, we provide research related to early childhood education, primarily early literacy and numeracy. Both microsites were designed to primarily address the education needs of parents and teachers. The research (both literature- and evidence-based) available through these microsites is ingrained in the articles provided, and serves as the springboard for the products and activities offered. Go to the instructional resources overview page to narrow your focus to the categories and articles in which you are most interested. In every case, the research is conducted before the products or activities that employ the strategies and designs supported by the research. After the fact, when we become aware of new (or previously unavailable) research that significantly alters recommended courses of effective instruction, products and activities based on the research are revised to accommodate the findings as soon as feasible. Additionally, in connection with the articles and resources provided, Research Precis are developed to provide focused evidence or other salient information in specific identified areas. These briefs are linked from the articles when and they most apply, but for an overall listing and access (independent of other context), see below:

Research Précis Edition 01-1 - Early Childhood Literacy: Teaching Children to Read

Research Précis Edition 01-2 - Early Childhood Literacy: Literacy and Language Development

Research Précis Edition 02-1 - Contextualized Learning: Through Strategies for Literacy

Research Précis Edition 02-2 - Contextualized Learning: Addressing Standards in History

Research Précis Edition 02-3 - Contextualized Learning: Graphic Organizers and "Reading to Learn"

Research Précis Edition 03-1 - Reading Comprehension: Question Generation

Research Précis Edition 03-2 - Reading Comprehension: Combining Question Generation and Multiple Strategies

Research Précis Edition 04-1 - Early Numeracy: Counting and Conservation

Research Précis Edition 04-2 - Early Numeracy: Number and Language

Research Précis Edition 04-3 - Early Numeracy: Initial Cardinality

Research Précis Editions 05-08 focus on research on effective programs for promoting safe and drug-free schools. To access by program, go to LearningLeads™ - Research Briefs: Effective Programs for Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities.

Get more information on the translational research analysis Modeling for Student Learning. 30+ pages of synthesized scientific evidence, drawn from 42 research studies related to the effectiveness of modeling as an instructional intervention. It's bench to classroom stuff—a must for science teachers at all grades.

Literature, Evidence, and Instructional Need

Given the recent government calls for research "evidence" to guide what and how we teach, there are more than a few discussions regarding the value, or lack of value, of the literature in education. Contrary to some views, we do not believe it is useless. Rather, syntheses of education literature constitutes a means of coming to an overall understanding of issues as informed by the perspectives of many experienced specialists and experts. On the other hand, contrary to other views, "literature" (or the cousins "viewpoint" or "anecdote") are also not evidence. The appropriate course of action, in our view, is a healthy blend of each, and a policy of never referring to one as the other (if most organizations simply did the latter, the education world would be a better place).

A deeper and more critical issue is that: If we wish to separate the "evidence" from the viewpoint and opinion, how do we go about doing that? The answer is fairly complex, but we address it from our perspective in our brief (6-page) white paper Translating scientifically based evidence into student learning: Research analysis process and criteria (PDF - 36K).

Standards and reports: Experience-based works that guide and align with research-based instructional decisions

Educational standards and the work that informs standards development and reform are not research, no doubt. Yet, these documents are reminiscent of the "informed literature" of which we previously spoke, only on a larger scale. The various standards documents in the United States, in the various provinces in Canada (referred to typically as learner expectations, but of the same ilk), and in the United Kingdom (as expressed in her national curriculum) are all expressions of the combined expertise of those regions, and all are expressive of what we believe children and students should know and be able to do at various grade levels.

As we design, as we determine the best approaches and strategies for ensuring that students learn what they should learn, it is important to address what they should learn in the views of these many experts. Read more about Designed Instruction's standards alignment services, and/or review the following informative documents:

Read the Exploratory Report Education Standards 2009.

Download the following print-optimized resources:

Exploratory Report NCLB: Standards and Assessment (PDF - 152 K)

White Paper Making Standards Alignment a Value-Add: From the Product Developer's Lens... (PDF - 832 K)

As with other segments of our web site, the resources we provide will continue to expand over time. Check back from time to time, and/or sign up to receive quarterly notices of new early childhood education resources at PreKorner™ Updates, or notices of new K-12 teaching and learning resources at LearningLeads™ Updates. New research is typically announced in those updates.

If you are with an organization needing assistance with an education program or product development effort, read about education services provided by Designed Instruction, LLC.