2014 AERA Distinguished Lecture: Accelerating How We Learn to Improve
Abstract
A chasm is growing between our rapidly rising aspirations for our educational systems and what schools can routinely accomplish. Education needs an improvement paradigm—one that recognizes the complexity of the work of education and the wide variability in outcomes that our systems currently produce. This article sketches out such a paradigm. It joins together the discipline of improvement science with the power of structured networked communities to accelerate learning to improve. These networked improvement communities (NICs) combine analytic thinking and systematic methods to develop and test changes that can achieve better outcomes more reliably. NICs are inclusive in drawing together the expertise of practitioners, researchers, designers, technologists, and many others. And they organize their activities in ways akin to a scientific community. They develop practice-based evidence as an essential complement to findings from other forms of educational research. The point is not just to know what can make things better or worse; it is to develop the know-how necessary to actually make things better.
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Controlled experimental studies of professional development are not designed to tell us what it will take to transfer or scale-up this work for varied subgroups of students and teachers across differing school contexts.
“However, these controlled experimental studies are not designed to tell us what it will take to transfer or scale-up this work for varied subgroups of students and teachers across differing school contexts (Bryk, 2015).”
From Exploring the role of instructional leaders in promoting agency in teachers’ professional learning (2024) · cites this paper as Bryk, 2015
Cites
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511815355 · Cited by 33,219 · see citing works
The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance
Ericsson, K. A., Krampe, R. T., & Tesch-Römer, C. (1993) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.100.3.363 · Cited by 9,564 · cited 1× · see citing works
“See Ericsson, Krampe, and Tesch-Romer (1993).”
How a Cockpit Remembers Its Speeds
Hutchins, E. (1995) · Cognitive Science · doi:10.1207/s15516709cog1903_1 · Cited by 1,880 · cited 1× · see citing works
“As work becomes more complex, workers need to rely more heavily on good processes, well-designed materials, and explicit norms around communication (Hutchins, 1995).”
BackgroundRedefining teaching, re-imagining teacher education
Grossman, P., Hammerness, K., & McDonald, M. (2009) · Teachers and Teaching · doi:10.1080/13540600902875340 · Cited by 1,759 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
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Bridging the gap between research and practice: Predicting what will work locally
Joyce, K. E., & Cartwright, N. (2020) · American Educational Research Journal · doi:10.3102/0002831219866687 · Cited by 169 · see citing works
Abry, T., Rimm-Kaufman, S. E., & Curby, T. W. (2017) · Prevention Science · doi:10.1007/s11121-016-0743-3 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
Exploring the role of instructional leaders in promoting agency in teachers’ professional learning
Robertson, D. A., Padesky, L. B., Thrailkill, L. “., Kelly, A., & Brock, C. H. (2024) · International Journal of Professional Development, Learners and Learning · doi:10.30935/ijpdll/14058 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
- Authors
- Bryk, A. S.
- Affiliations
- Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (US)
- Corresponding author
- Bryk, Anthony S.
- Venue
- Educational Researcher
- Published
- 2015-12
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 467-477
- ISSN
- 0013-189X (ISSN-L)
- 1935-102X
- OpenAlex
- W2219534000
- Cited by
- 295
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 12 · 2025: 39 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 32 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 15
- FWCI
- 39.95
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Educational Researcher (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Educational Assessment and Improvement
- Social Sciences › Education › Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Evaluation and Performance Assessment
- Keywords
- improvement science, networked improvement communities, educational improvement, practice-based evidence, educational change, school improvement
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