Join the REL Program’s upcoming webinar to learn about a new tool designed to help schools and districts review research literature and select evidence-based interventions that are appropriate for their local context.

The U.S. Department of Education’s non-regulatory guidance on how to identify interventions based on the Every Student Succeeds Act’s (ESSA) four levels of evidence recommends that schools consider not only the strength of the evidence supporting a particular intervention, but also the relevance of the evidence – specifically the extent to which the settings and/or populations used in research studies are similar to one’s own school and students. This is especially important for small, rural, or Native-serving schools, which are often underrepresented in education research.

The ninety-minute webinar will provide an overview of the draft tool, Applicability of Evidence-Based Interventions in Different Contexts. This tool presents a series of key considerations and related questions, aligned to eight important contextual factors, to help users examine how similar their context is to that of the research and assess whether a particular intervention might meet their needs.

The webinar will be highly interactive. Participants will be presented with a scenario and set of guiding questions to work through the tool in small breakout groups. As a result of the webinar, participants will:

  • Understand how to examine an intervention to determine its applicability to their context; and
  • Discuss potential uses of the tool and offer feedback for refining it.

This webinar is designed for educators looking to choose evidence-based interventions that will be applicable to school settings less often included in the research sample for impact studies, such as small schools, rural schools, and/or Native-serving schools. Both local educators and state or regional service providers who work with those educators may be interested in this event.

Considerations for the Applicability of Research to Different Contexts
April 16, 2019
12:00–1:30 p.m. PT
Register here

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The Regional Educational Laboratories (RELs) build the capacity of educators to use data and research to improve student outcomes. Each REL responds to needs identified in its region and makes learning opportunities and other resources available to educators throughout the United States. The REL program is a part of the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) in the U.S. Department of Education. To receive regular updates on REL work, including events and reports, follow IES on Facebook and Twitter. To provide feedback on this or other REL work, email Contact.IES@ed.gov.