Practical Research in Accessible Form

At IDR, we’re dedicated to designing and conducting research and sharing findings, all in practical, understandable ways.

What we do. We share summaries of existing research. We identify tools such as surveys and rubrics that might be useful, or develop new ones for specific needs. We collect and analyze data, conducting survey, interviews or focus groups, in person or virtually. We provide customized research and evaluation services to educators and educational stakeholders. Essentially, we make the best available data and research available to the people who work in education.

In recent years, we have also begun supporting others to develop the skills to do similar work. We provide grant-writing support and teach others to write grants to support their educational projects or research. We also coach developing researchers and provide guidance on research design.

What we care about. All students deserve the opportunity to high-quality instruction to prepare them for meaningful lives and engaged participation in society. Currently, not all students have that opportunity, and remedying that painful fact is what motivates all the work we do. We believe that high-quality evidence can guide our decisions about how to improve systems, curricula, material, instruction, supports and even relationships in schools.

We also know that educators can’t benefit from data and research if they can’t access or understand findings. That’s why one of our goals is to create summaries, slide shows, reports, and data displays that communicate in clear and useful ways.

There are many organizations, large and small, that design and administer surveys, conduct interviews, analyze achievement or behavior data. IDR is one of many that can provide efficient, well-designed services.

There are a few things, however, that make us different from other organizations.

One is the way we work closely with clients. We aim to understand your situation and your needs. We take the time to get to understand your program in depth. We bring hundreds of hours of observation to our work, observations of classroom instruction, professional development programs, or professional planning meetings. This background allows us to quickly spot what is unique about your program and your context. Furthermore, we stay in close contact with you as the work progresses–weekly check-ins are not uncommon.

Another is our focus on equity. We ask questions about your program designed to bring up issues that may have been overlooked: who is able to access your program? Who might be left out (however unintentionally), and why? Who is at the table making decisions? How do the results, rewards, and obstacles look different for different students?

And of course, we emphasize the comprehensibility and usefulness of end products (reports, slide decks, graphs, etc.). If it doesn’t make sense to you, if it’s not concise, readable, and relevant to your work, we know you won’t use it. So we tailor products to your setting and your need.