Integrating research and educational practice: perspectives from directors of educational intervention companies

Enthusiasm for an evidence-informed approach towards educational interventions is currently hindered by difficulties integrating research findings into practice. To develop an understanding of current challenges for evidence integration, this qualitative study examined how commercial providers of educational interventions – increasingly involved in the development of practice – interact with and use research evidence in their intervention development and practices. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with an international sample of 14 directors of commercial educational intervention companies (50% female) from countries in Europe and North, Central and South America. Based on thematic analysis of interview data, this paper presents a) an overview of the perspectives of the directors on the role of research evidence in their work, and b) suggestions for improving evidence integration into educational intervention provision based on these. Company directors considered research to be important for responsible practice in education and that intervention providers typically conduct their own research for the dual purposes of evidencing and optimising impact. However, there is currently disincentive for commercial providers to engage with academic research because taking part in external evaluation of their own intervention is perceived as high-stakes. Evidence standards required by schools and different research funding bodies are inconsistent. Together, the result is that rigorous standards of evaluation are not perceived as being necessary. To facilitate engagement with research, intervention providers desire a client-centred and collaborative approach to research partnerships, and evaluation processes that are incremental, reducing reliance on high-stakes one-off research trials. We propose ways to improve evidence integration into educational intervention provision based on the perspectives of commercial education intervention providers, while placing them in the context of other stakeholders in the evidence-informed approach to education.