Learn + Teach about IRE
If you're a newcomer to Improvement Research in Education (IRE), want to learn about a particular IRE approach, or are preparing to teach a course in IRE, this is the page for you.
Browse the growing collections of resources below, each of which offers introductory entrypoints that support teaching and learning about IRE:
- What is IRE? Beginning to Map an Emerging Field
- IRE Organizations
- Critical Perspectives and IRE
- Syllabi and Other Pedagogical Resources
- Listen and Learn: Podcasts and Other Audio Media
- Watch and Learn: Recorded Presentations and Other Audiovisual Media
A Note About This PageImportantly, the resources featured on this page represent only a small sample of the ways you can begin to learn (and teach) about IRE. The resources showcased on this page take inspiration from IRE community member recommendations, as well as field-building documents such as The Foundational Handbook on Improvement Research in Education and the Oxford Bibliographies Special Series on "Continuous Improvement in Education." This page is neither definitive nor comprehensive; instead, it is intended to be illustrative, useful, and subject to change. Indeed, like the rest of the IRE Knowledge Commons, this page is living and will change over time.
If you have ideas about how this page could be made more useful, including recommendations about resources that we should feature on this page, we invite you to complete this form, where you can let us know about changes you'd suggest for this page. Our goal is also to grow this page by adding new, user-contributed "mini-guides" or "reading lists" that recommend resources focused on particular topics or controversies in IRE. If you'd like to volunteer to develop an introductory guide/reading list centered on an IRE topic, we invite you to email us at core.project@umich.edu discuss ideas and options.
What is IRE? Beginning to Map an Emerging Field
Defining IRE
Improvement Research in Education aims to produce, use, and refine practical knowledge that addresses specific opportunities, problems, and needs of particular learning contexts. It entails iterative cycles of inquiry, design, implementation, and evaluation by collaborating researchers, professional educators, and other stakeholders. IRE encompasses a constellation of approaches and traditions that serve these goals, making IRE an intellectually rich yet complex field to navigate. These approaches and traditions can be informed by different assumptions, and can endorse different perspectives, practices, and priorities.
Field-Building Work
One helpful way to begin mapping the emerging field of IRE is to check out some of the major field-building work recently led by members of the Improvement Scholars Network (ISN), including not only a 2022 Foundational Handbook focused on IRE, but also a 2019 session at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting and a special series of IRE-focused Oxford Bibliographies, published between 2020 and 2022.
Click on the resources below to learn more.
Other Overviews of IRE Methods and Approaches
In addition to consulting the field-building resources above, those new to IRE may benefit by checking out introductory overviews of the varied approaches and methods that make up the field. We highlight a few of these resources below, selected to illustrate a range of orientations to IRE. Together, these resources will help you to begin navigating the complex conceptual terrain of IRE.
Click on one of the links below to read more.
IRE Organizations
One of the best ways to deepen your understanding of IRE is to learn more about the organizations that shape and have been shaped by that emerging field. Drawing on recommendations from IRE community members and insights from the Foundational Handbook on Improvement Research in Education, we highlight some of these organizations below.
We first spotlight IRE-focused research initiatives and clearinghouses. Then we turn to some of the organizations that have, to date, played important roles in funding and/or sponsoring IRE. Click on the links below to learn more about these entities, many of which offer their own extensive resource repositories and introductory guides.
IRE-Focused Research Initiatives and Clearinghouses
Sponsors and Funders
Critical Perspectives and IRE
Wanting to learn more about the relationship to IRE to power, social hierarchies, and (in)justice? You can begin to learn about critical perspectives on IRE (and its contexts) by checking out the two texts immediately below: a chapter from the Foundational Handbook on Improvement Research and Education and a companion text in the Oxford Bibliographies Special Series on "Continuous Improvement in Education," both of which were coauthored by Huriya Jabbar and Joshua Childs.
To provide you with an example of the rich and multidimensional critical conversations taking form in the field of IRE, we have also prepared a living "Learn + Teach Shortlist" of resources focused on topic of Race, Justice, and IRE, which highlights introductory readings, pedagogical materials, and organizational entities relevant to racial justice and improvement research. For more, click on the link below.
Syllabi and Other Pedagogical Resources
Looking for sample syllabi and other teaching materials? You've come to the right place!
Browse the growing list of syllabi below, or click here to check out our IRE Resource Repository and learn about the full range of pedagogical resources this website can connect you with.
Listen and Learn: Podcasts and Other Audio Media
Podcasts and other IRE-focused audio recordings can help to introduce or break down complex research concepts and findings, rendering them more accessible and digestible. These resources therefore provide a powerful way to support learning about IRE as a field.
Check out the audio recordings below to listen and learn!
Watch and Learn: Recorded Presentations and Other Audiovisual Media
Our growing collection of audiovisual media connects you with a variety of presentations, webinars, interviews, and related recordings.
Check out the resources below to watch and learn!