Project Information

Understanding Participation in Interviews About the Use of Research Evidence

Why this project? The U.S. Department of Education is gathering information about how K–12 education leaders use research evidence, including research evidence available on the What Works Clearinghouse website. The Department will use this information to determine how it can improve the delivery of research evidence to K–12 education leaders. The American Institutes for Research (AIR) is collecting information on behalf of the U.S. Department of Education through videoconference interviews.

What do I need to do to participate? You will need to coordinate an interview with AIR. The interview will take up to one hour and will be conducted via videoconference. You will need access to a computer with an internet browser, and you will use a phone or a computer microphone for audio. The interview’s audio and screen-sharing portions will be recorded. The webcam image—if you decide to use a webcam during the interview—will not be recorded. The interview will include questions about your use of research evidence and will incorporate browsing of the What Works Clearinghouse website.

What do I gain by participating? You will increase your familiarity with the What Works Clearinghouse and its products, which could benefit future projects requiring research evidence. Information collected through interviews also will benefit educators across the country because the U.S. Department of Education will use the resulting information to improve the delivery of research evidence through the What Works Clearinghouse to education leaders such as you.

Are there any risks? The risk of participation is minimal. AIR will keep the information provided during interviews confidential. Only AIR’s research team will have access to the interview data and the raw data will not be shared with the Department or your organization. Audio recordings and transcripts will be stored in a de-identified manner such that participants’ names and organizations are not associated with their data. Reports from this data collection will contain summaries of aggregate responses from all participants. Information in reports will never be presented in any way that would permit readers to identify individuals or organizations.

Am I representing my organization? The purpose of the interviews is to gain your perspective as an individual. AIR will not ask you to represent your organization.

Do I have to participate? Participation in this data collection is voluntary. You may stop at any time. Participation or nonparticipation in this data collection will not affect your relationship with your organization or with the U.S. Department of Education.

Who can I contact with questions? If you have any questions about the project, please contact Naomi Jacobs, AIR project manager, at njacobs@air.org or by phone at (202) 403-5729.

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) Burden Statement

According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. The valid OMB control number for this information collection is 1880-0542. Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 32 minutes per response, including time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information. The obligation to respond to this collection is voluntary. If you have any comments concerning the accuracy of the time estimate, suggestions for improving this survey or protocol, please contact Erin Pollard at erin.pollard@ed.gov, Education Research Analyst, Knowledge Use Division, Institute of Education Science, US Department of Education directly.