Teaching is the most powerful in-school influence on student outcomes. This report brings together evidence to inform how education systems can support the effective implementation of evidence-based practices across their schools at scale. Drawing on a commissioned literature review (PDF, 1.82 MB), it translates insights from international and national research into the Australian education systems context.
The Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO)’s work highlights 3 key elements that enable education systems to effectively support the adoption of evidence in schools:
- Principles: Clarity and alignment, effective use of evidence and a focused system strategy. These principles ensure system decision-making is consistent, coherent and evidence-informed.
- Levers: The coherent technical core, the school improvement ecosystem and service design and delivery. These levers are the functions or mechanisms through which systems act to support schools to enable effective implementation.
- Enabling conditions: Leadership, data use and communication and engagement. These operational and relational factors allow the principles and levers to work in practice and be sustained over time.
Successful systems have each of these 3 elements in place and ensure they operate in unison. The research suggests that when they work together, these elements support systems in delivering an effective model of support to schools, providing them with the necessary resources to implement evidence-based practices in their unique contexts.
This guidance report also outlines a structured process for introducing new or time-bounded initiatives to ensure they are impactful and align with these 3 elements.
Keywords: practice implementation, evidence-based teaching, evidence-based education, organisational change, school change, educational strategies