Supporting quality use of research evidence in schools and systems within the Asia Pacific

There are growing expectations internationally that schools and school systems will use research evidence to inform their improvement efforts. Across the Asia Pacific region, evidence-informed practice has become an explicit educational policy priority in certain countries and, in other countries, is an implicit dimension of wider educational reforms and/or evidence-based policy initiatives. With these developments in mind, this chapter draws on recent studies of educational evidence use to explore four key themes connected to understanding and improving the use of research evidence in schools and systems. The first theme concerns the need for efforts to improve educational evidence use to focus not just on the quality of the evidence but also on the quality of the use. The second theme concerns the professional nature of using evidence well and the need for evidence use to be recognized and fostered as part of educational professionalism. The third theme concerns educational improvement and the need for educational evidence use to be embedded within improvement processes within and across schools. The fourth theme concerns the systemic nature of evidence use improvement and the need for system-level strategies and supports. Based on these four themes, the chapter draws out issues and implications for different Asia Pacific countries and education systems. It also emphasizes the need for improved understanding of the dynamics of educational research engagement within the Asia Pacific.