The National Collaborative for Digital Equity has launched the Evidence-Based Practice initiative with teacher educators in New Hampshire and nationwide, in collaboration with the New Hampshire IHE Network, Association of Teacher Educators, National Education Association, American Library Association, American Association of School Librarians, the New Hampshire School Library Media Association, Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education, and EBSCO.
Our aim is nothing less than to transform the skills and dispositions of the nation's future educators and those who prepare them (teacher education faculty and cooperating educators), with regard to using research. Until now, just about the only experience future and current educators ever have in using online databases of educational research on effective PreK-12 educational practices is to carry out an academic assignment -- such as an essay or annotated bibliography. They undertake these assignments to earn a good grade, not to gain knowledge and skills that will enhance their professional practice and their PreK-12 students' learning.
To request the password for the Habit of Mind Collection, contact: help@digitalequity.us
To access the Habit of Mind Collection, please click here
We realize developing this habit of mind requires more than labeling it important. We have associated some behavioral habits based on the work of Art Costa and Bena Kallick (Dispositions: Reframing Teaching and Learning, Corwin Press, 2013) The dispositions represented here are not all inclusive. However, they are drawn from a body of work that can be referenced for building the important habit of using evidence based research. The power of being intentional about using Habits of Mind is that they are as important to teachers as they are to students. So, we should be thinking about these habits of evidence based research not only for us as educators, we should also be thinking about how to bring the same habits into the research process we require for students. Consider these Habits as a focus for developing the disposition for becoming an evidence based researcher:
· Questioning and problem posing
· Communicating with clarity and precision
· Listening with understanding and empathy
· Thinking flexibly
· Gathering data with all senses
The failure of professional educators to learn about and use evidence-based practices has led to the woeful reality that practices that yield powerful gains in students' learning opportunities, engagement and results are rarely replicated at scale. As a result, we face "epidemics" that in some cases are generations old -- e.g., the "school-to-prison pipeline" experienced by too many African American boys. Research is replete with robust quantitative and qualitative evidence of effective strategies for this and many other such educational epidemics. Our failure to instill the habit of mind in our nation's future practitioners to seek out evidence-based practice is irresponsible and unacceptable.
Through pilot funding from the National Education Association, the New Hampshire NEA and the Collaborative have been able to offer free professional development for the state's educator preparation programs' faculty, candidates, cooperating educators and alums onwhy and how to utilize online research databases to improve their professional practice and PreK-12 student learning. In addition, EBSCO, the leading provider of full-text online educational research materials, has made its rich array of materials available at a deep discount. Also, with the help of the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education, we hope to familiarize educators with the existence and value of high quality open educational resources for research and instruction.
Together, we will engage and assist New Hampshire's preparation programs' educators to:
(1) Understand why and how to access online research databases to effectively and quickly locate evidence-based practices keyed to their student learning priorities;
(2) Understand why and how to access online instructional databases to effectively and quickly locate high quality instructional resources relevant to their student learning priorities; and
(3) Understand why and how to work closely with school library media specialists to accomplish the first two goals.
For more information, please contact Dr. Robert McLaughlin at (802) 249-1159 or rmclaughlin@digitalequity.us. See also a video about this initiative.
Our aim is nothing less than to transform the skills and dispositions of the nation's future educators and those who prepare them (teacher education faculty and cooperating educators), with regard to using research. Until now, just about the only experience future and current educators ever have in using online databases of educational research on effective PreK-12 educational practices is to carry out an academic assignment -- such as an essay or annotated bibliography. They undertake these assignments to earn a good grade, not to gain knowledge and skills that will enhance their professional practice and their PreK-12 students' learning.
To request the password for the Habit of Mind Collection, contact: help@digitalequity.us
To access the Habit of Mind Collection, please click here
We realize developing this habit of mind requires more than labeling it important. We have associated some behavioral habits based on the work of Art Costa and Bena Kallick (Dispositions: Reframing Teaching and Learning, Corwin Press, 2013) The dispositions represented here are not all inclusive. However, they are drawn from a body of work that can be referenced for building the important habit of using evidence based research. The power of being intentional about using Habits of Mind is that they are as important to teachers as they are to students. So, we should be thinking about these habits of evidence based research not only for us as educators, we should also be thinking about how to bring the same habits into the research process we require for students. Consider these Habits as a focus for developing the disposition for becoming an evidence based researcher:
· Questioning and problem posing
· Communicating with clarity and precision
· Listening with understanding and empathy
· Thinking flexibly
· Gathering data with all senses
The failure of professional educators to learn about and use evidence-based practices has led to the woeful reality that practices that yield powerful gains in students' learning opportunities, engagement and results are rarely replicated at scale. As a result, we face "epidemics" that in some cases are generations old -- e.g., the "school-to-prison pipeline" experienced by too many African American boys. Research is replete with robust quantitative and qualitative evidence of effective strategies for this and many other such educational epidemics. Our failure to instill the habit of mind in our nation's future practitioners to seek out evidence-based practice is irresponsible and unacceptable.
Through pilot funding from the National Education Association, the New Hampshire NEA and the Collaborative have been able to offer free professional development for the state's educator preparation programs' faculty, candidates, cooperating educators and alums onwhy and how to utilize online research databases to improve their professional practice and PreK-12 student learning. In addition, EBSCO, the leading provider of full-text online educational research materials, has made its rich array of materials available at a deep discount. Also, with the help of the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education, we hope to familiarize educators with the existence and value of high quality open educational resources for research and instruction.
Together, we will engage and assist New Hampshire's preparation programs' educators to:
(1) Understand why and how to access online research databases to effectively and quickly locate evidence-based practices keyed to their student learning priorities;
(2) Understand why and how to access online instructional databases to effectively and quickly locate high quality instructional resources relevant to their student learning priorities; and
(3) Understand why and how to work closely with school library media specialists to accomplish the first two goals.
For more information, please contact Dr. Robert McLaughlin at (802) 249-1159 or rmclaughlin@digitalequity.us. See also a video about this initiative.