Standards of evidence
Standards of evidence help us make consistent and transparent judgements when assessing evidence about the effectiveness of a particular education policy, practice or program.
The Standards of evidence
evidence (or education evidence) - Evidence is any type of information that supports an assertion, hypothesis or claim. There are many types of evidence in education, including insights drawn from child or student assessments, classroom observations, recommendations from popular education books and findings from research studies and syntheses. AERO refers to two types of evidence in its work:
- research evidence: This is academic research, such as causal research or synthesis research, which uses rigorous methods to provide insights into educational practice.
- practitioner-generated evidence: This is evidence generated through practitioners in their daily practice (for example, teacher observations, information gained from formative assessments or insights from student feedback on teacher practice).
approach - An approach is the term AERO uses to refer to a practice, program or policy.
research (or types of research) - Research is ‘the creation of new knowledge and/or the use of existing knowledge in a new and creative way so as to generate new concepts, methodologies, inventions and understandings’ (Australian Research Council, 2015). There are many types of research. For example:
- exploratory research involves investigating an issue or problem. It aims to better understand this problem and sometimes leads to the formation of hypotheses or theories about the problem.
- descriptive research describes a population, situation or event that is being studied. It focuses on developing knowledge about what exists and what is happening.
- causal research (also known as ‘evaluative research’) uses experimentation to determine whether a cause-and-effect relationship exists between two or more elements, features or factors.
- synthesis research combines, compares and links existing information to provide a summary and/or new insights or information about a given topic.
research (or types of research) - Research is ‘the creation of new knowledge and/or the use of existing knowledge in a new and creative way so as to generate new concepts, methodologies, inventions and understandings’ (Australian Research Council, 2015). There are many types of research. For example:
- exploratory research involves investigating an issue or problem. It aims to better understand this problem and sometimes leads to the formation of hypotheses or theories about the problem.
- descriptive research describes a population, situation or event that is being studied. It focuses on developing knowledge about what exists and what is happening.
- causal research (also known as ‘evaluative research’) uses experimentation to determine whether a cause-and-effect relationship exists between two or more elements, features or factors.
- synthesis research combines, compares and links existing information to provide a summary and/or new insights or information about a given topic.
effective/ness - An educational approach is effective if it causes (see causation above) a desired change in a particular outcome. This desired change can be an increase in an outcome (for example, increases in student achievement) or it can be a decrease in an outcome (for example, reduction in student absenteeism).
rigour (or rigorous research or rigorous evidence) - Evidence is considered rigorous when it proves that a particular approach causes a particular outcome. Rigorous evidence is produced by using specialised research methods that can identify the impact of one particular influence. The most common research method used to produce rigorous evidence is the randomised controlled trial. However, there are many other methods that can produce rigorous evidence, whether qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods. What is important in producing rigorous evidence is that the research method can rule out the effects of as many other influences as possible.
relevant evidence - Relevant evidence is evidence produced in contexts that are similar to one’s own context. Evidence can also be considered relevant when it is derived from a large number of studies conducted over a wide range of contexts.
research methods - Research methods are the methods used to conduct research. Research methods are generally classified as ‘qualitative’ or ‘quantitative’. When both methods are used, it is referred to as ‘mixed methods’ research. Qualitative methods involve collecting and analysing non-numerical data (such as observations, interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, documents and artifacts). Qualitative methods can be used to understand concepts, opinions or experiences as well as to gather in-depth insights into a problem or generate new ideas. Quantitative methods involve collecting and analysing numerical data. Quantitative methods are generally used to find patterns and averages, make predictions, test causal relationships and generalise results to wider populations.
quantitative methods - Quantitative methods involve collecting and analysing numerical data. Quantitative methods are generally used to find patterns and averages, make predictions, test causal relationships and generalise results to wider populations.
qualitative methods - Qualitative methods involve collecting and analysing non-numerical data, and may include observations, interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, and documents and artifact analysis. Qualitative methods can be used to understand concepts, opinions or experiences as well as to gather in-depth insights into a problem or generate new ideas.
mixed-methods research - Mixed-methods research is research that uses both qualitative (non-numerical data) and quantitative (numerical data) research methods.
context (or contextual factors) - Context is the social, cultural and environmental factors found in research settings. Taking context into account in research studies is important because context can affect the outcomes of research (i.e. evidence generated in one context may not necessarily apply to a different context). Evidence is most relevant when it has been generated in a context similar to the context in which it will be applied. Examples of ‘context’ may include location, demographics of research participants, or the level of organisational support for the particular approach being researched.
evaluation - Evaluation is the systematic and objective assessment of an approach. Evaluation provides evidence of what has been done well, what could be done better, the extent to which objectives have been achieved and/or the impact of the approach. This evidence can then be used to inform ongoing decision-making regarding the approach.