From Research to Practice

What does the research say and
what does it look like in the classroom?

By Debbie Perez

As educators, we aspire for it: a controlled environment in which we say, do something and know exactly what the results of our actions and teaching will be. After all, isn't teaching a science? We are trained to think for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

But Newton's law fails to consider the unpredictable nature that surrounds the teaching environment. The force is strong. The opposing factors, sometimes, are even stronger; and for every action, there is a reaction that is seemingly unpredictable. We feel this when teachers spend hours, exhausting energy into every lesson, creating a learning experience for students that is meaningful and engaging. The result: student performance that does not correlate with teacher and student effort - and student achievement data that will not show progress. How is this? Especially when teacher are implementing research-based strategies and practices they are told maximize student success and learning.

It has, admittedly, taken me continued research through my doctoral work to realize the main problem. To get the research outcomes, you have to implement the researched variables.  We can't just assume to know and understand a certain program or strategy that is deemed researched-based. As professionals, we have to analyze the studies in order to research the conditions, the variables, the degree in which the strategy or practice produced reliable outcomes.

What we most often end up with, however, are implementation practices that do not correlate to the researched practices. It is this reality that has inspired me to provide a list of current trends and research when it comes to literacy instruction as well as provide clarification about how to effectively implement.

This effort is a work in progress and will be continued to be revised and lengthened as time and research merits it.  Feel free to include additional researched strategies or classroom application tips in the comments section below. I hope this is a useful resource for teachers who are truly frustrated because their best efforts are not yielding the results that research says they should expect.

Reading Research	Classroom Application	Misconception