Evidence-based practice

1. +
Dr Gary Jones - @DrGaryJones – jones.gary@gmail.com
https://evidencebasededucationalleadership.blogspot.com
Time-saving techniques for the evidence-based practitioner
researchED London, Saturday 9 September, 2017

2. +
By the end of this session I hope to
have provided you with
 The only definition of evidence-based practice that you will ever
need
 Address some common misconceptions about evidence-based
practice
 Looked at a range of tools to help you become a more efficient
and effective evidence-based practitioner
2

3. +
The only definition of evidence-
based practice you will ever need
3

5. 5

6. 6

7. +
Common misconceptions about
EBP (1)
 Evidence-based practice ignores the expertise and knowledge
of teachers and head-teachers.
 Evidence-based practice is the same as research-based
practice
 Evidence-based practice involves teachers undertaking
research
 Evidence-based practice is all about numbers and statisticas

8. +
Common misconceptions about
EBP (2)
 School leaders need to make decisions quickly and don’t have
time for evidence-based practice?
 Each school is unique, so the usefulness of scientific evidences
is limited
 If you do not have high-quality evidence, you cannot do
anything
 Good quality evidence gives you the answer to the problem
8

9. +
Asking well-formulated and
answerable questions
9

10. +
Peter Drucker
‘Effective people do not make a
great many decisions. They
concentrate on the important ones’
10
Drucker, P. F. (2001). The Essential Drucker : Butterworth-Heinemann
Oxford

11. +
What do we mean by a problem of
of practice
an important problem for which a
remedy is sought and that can be
locally implemented (adapted from
Mintrop, 2016)
11
MINTROP, R. 2016. Design-Based School Improvement
A Practical Guide for Education Leaders, Cambridge, Harvard
Education Press

12. +
The PICO format
 P — Pupil or Problem. How would you describe
the group of pupils or problem?
 I — Intervention. What are you planning to do
with your pupils?
 C — Comparison. What is the alternative to the
intervention/action/innovations
 O — Outcomes. What are the effects of the
intervention/action/intervention?

13. +
Using the PICO format
 For pupils requiring additional learning support (P)
how does the provision of 1 to 1 support (I)
compared with group support (C) affect achievement
rates.
 For pupils aged 16 who failed to achieve at least at a
grade C in GCSE English (P) and subsequently
retake GCSE English (I) at the end of the academic
year, how well do they achieve (O) compared to
students who have been prepared and entered for
iGCSE English (C)

14. +
Using the SPICE framework
Setting – where?
Perspective – for whom?
Intervention – what?
Comparison – compared with what?
Evaluation – with what result?
14

15. +
SPICE examples
 From the perspective of a newly qualified teacher (NQT)
secondary school, is formal coaching more effective than
informal mentoring in ensuring NQTs successfully complete his
or her probationary year.
 From the perspective of a newly appointed primary school
headteacher in a school that ‘requires improvement’ is seeking
to replace the existing leadership team with a new leadership
more likely to lead to the school becoming good or outstanding.
 From the perspective of a Y7 pupils are friendship groups more
important than parental views in influencing the preferred
choice of secondary education
15

16. +
Now try
 P — Pupil or Problem. How
would you describe the group of
pupils or problem?
 I — Intervention. What are you
planning to do with your pupils?
 C — Comparison. What is the
alternative to the
intervention/action/innovations
 O — Outcomes. What are the
effects of the
intervention/action/intervention?
 Setting – where?
 Perspective – for whom?
 Intervention – what?
 Comparison – compared with
what?
 Evaluation – with what result?
16

17. +
Accessing research evidence
17

18. +
Developing a search strategy
 The accuracy and relevance of the identified problem of practice should be
discussed and scrutinized. Attempt to identify and articulate your current ‘best
answer’ about how to address the problem of practice.
 For each potential source of evidence identify a range of data and information,
which may help answer the problem of practice
 Seek out internal school data about the problem of practice. This may lead to
your PICOT, CIMO or SPICE question being re-written (again), as you may
have a far greater awareness of the issue at hand.
 Develop a search strategy for published research, deciding what you are going
to read and how to find it
 Engage with stakeholders to get their views about the problem and the
strategies that could be adopted and how any solutions or interventions
adopted may affect stakeholders.
 Give consideration as to how you are going to access experience and expertise
18

19. +
Develop a search strategy
 Specialised databases – EBSCO or ERIC
 Hand searching
 Reference list checking
 Internet searching
 Professional and personal contact
19

20. +
What to do if you cannot access
journal articles
 Use Google Scholar
 Use Twitter
 Contact the author
20

21. +
Appraising research evidence
21

22. +
Appraising research evidence
 Why am I reading this?
 What are the authors trying to
achieve in writing this?
 What are the authors claiming
that is relevant to my work?
 How convincing are these
claims, and why?
 In conclusion, what use can I
make of this?
22

23. 23

24. +
Aggregating research
evidence
24

25. 25
Aggregating evidence

26. +
Applying research evidence
26

27. Framework for analysis of context
Participants’ will
Sizing up a context
No
Commitment
Some
Commitment
Strong
Commitment
Extant know-
how limited
Limited
capacity
Very small-
scale test
Very small-
scale test
Very small-
scale test
Good
capacity
Very small-
scale test
Very small-
scale test
Small-scale
test
Substantial
know-how
exists
Limited
capacity
Very small-
scale test
Small-scale
test
Large-scale
test
Good
capacity
Small-scale
test
Large-scale
test
Implement
BRYK, A. S., GOMEZ, L. M., GRUNOW, A. & LEMAHIEU, P. G. 2015.
Learning to improve: How America's schools can get better at getting better.

28. +
Assessing
28

29. +
After-Action-Review
 What did we set out to do?
 What actually happened?
 Why did it happen?
 What are we going to do next time?
29

30. +
Are you ready?
30

31. 31

32. 32
Professor Robert Coe, 2017

33. +
In summary
 We have looked at definition of evidence-based practice that
you will ever need – Barends et al 2014
 Address eight misconceptions about evidence-based practice
 Looked at a range of tools to help you become a more efficient
and effective evidence-based practitioner
 Suggested a way of evaluating your current state of readiness
for evidence-based practice
33

34. +
@DrGaryJones
jones.gary@gmail.com
http://evidencebasededucationalleadership.blogspot.com