Keynote Address:

Dr. Carol Campbell

Putting Research into Action: From Evidence-Based Decisions to Systematic Educational Improvement

The importance of evidence-based decision making continues to grow as educators, parents, students, policy-makers and the public increasingly want to know whether we are putting in place effective practices that will benefit our students' learning and development. However, evidence is not only important at the point of decision making but also beyond into implementation, reviewing the impact of practices, identifying more or less successful practices, considering progress, and assessing outcomes achieved. This need for evidence throughout education practice is critical to the role of research and data, both qualitative and quantitative. This keynote outlined following topics:

• The relationship between evidence and decisions
• Evidence-based decision making, then what? The role of research, evaluation and data
• Research-informed practice
• Using research and data: from individual schools to systemic improvement
• Update on the Ontario Research Strategy