Evidence-Based Decision Making in School District Central Offices: Toward a Policy and Research Agenda

Item

Title

Evidence-Based Decision Making in School District Central Offices: Toward a Policy and Research Agenda

Abstract/Description

District central office administrators increasingly face policy demands to use “evidence” in their decision making. These demands up the ante on education policy researchers and policy makers to better understand what evidence use in district central offices entails and the conditions that may support it. To that end, the authors conducted a comprehensive review of research literature on evidence use in district central offices, finding that the process of evidence use is complex, spanning multiple subactivities and requiring administrators to make sense of evidence and its implications for central office operations. These activities have significant political dimensions and involve the use of “local knowledge” as a key evidence source. Evidence use is shaped by features of the evidence itself and various organizational and institutional factors. Policy shapes evidence use, but other factors mediate its impact. The authors conclude with implications for future policy and research on central office evidence-based decision making.

Author/creator

Honig, Meredith I.

Coburn, Cynthia E.

Date

2008

In publication

Educational Policy

Volume

22

Issue

4

Pages

578-608

Resource type

Research/Scholarly Media

Resource status/form

en Published Text

Scholarship genre

en Synthesis/Overview

Keywords

central office

evidence-based decision making

policy implementation

school district

IRE Approach/Concept

Evidence-Based Decision Making

Primary national context

United States

Language

en

ISSN

0895-9048

DOI

10.1177/0895904807307067

URL

Official Publisher's Webpage (SAGE Journals)

Citation

Honig, M. I., & Coburn, C. (2008). Evidence-Based Decision Making in School District Central Offices: Toward a Policy and Research Agenda. Educational Policy, 22(4), 578–608. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904807307067

Abbreviation

Educational Policy

Item sets

Section II: Contexts of Improvement Research in Education [Foundational Handbook]

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