{"id":6661876,"date":"2025-07-13T16:06:24","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T21:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/?p=6661876"},"modified":"2025-07-10T06:43:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T11:43:00","slug":"improving-schools-with-research-understanding-the-gaps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningandthebrain.com\/blog\/improving-schools-with-research-understanding-the-gaps\/","title":{"rendered":"Improving Schools with Research: Understanding the Gaps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Those of us who study the intersection of research and teaching can get carried away all to easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After all: psychology research can provide enormous benefits to teachers and school leaders. More important, it benefits the students and families <\/em>who depend on us. Because this reseach can help us understand — say — memory and attention, it can improve the way we teach and think about almost every school-keeping topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No wonder we get so excited. “Here’s the research!” we cry. “Now, go use it wisely!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the gap between “having the research” and “using it wisely” is…ENORMOUS. If we understand research correctly, it can indeed help us know what to do<\/em>. But…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

… what if we’re relying on flawed research? or<\/p>\n\n\n\n

… what if we’re using research that doesn’t apply to the biggest problem in our school? or<\/p>\n\n\n\n

… what if we incorporate the research in our thinking, but don’t have a clear system to evaluate its effects, or…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This list goes on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those of us who want psychology and neuroscience research to improve education need a better system for “using research wisely” in schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today’s News: Towards a Better System<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’ve been thinking about the broader difficulties of “using research wisely in education” because of a recent book: Evidence-Informed Wisdom: Making Better Decisions in Education<\/em>. The authors — Bradley Busch, Edward Watson, and Matthew Shaw — see exactly this problem, and have lots of guidance to offer.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This book includes several quotations and charts and anecdotes worth savoring; I want to focus on a Venn diagram that has really got methinking. Here’s an incomplete version:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As you can see, Busch, Watson and Shaw argue that we can find the “sweet spot” when we undertake three complex processes simultaneously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n