# Abstract --- A protocol describing validation efforts for this instrument can be found [here][1]. ### Specific Application A self-report measure of school and district policy makers' capacity to access, receive, and use research. ### Sources for This Method Penuel, W. R., Briggs, D. C., Davidson, K. L., Herlihy, C., Sherer, D., Hill, H. C., Farrell, C., & Allen, A.-R. (2017). How School and District Leaders Access, Perceive, and Use Research. *AERA Open*. https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858417705370 Penuel, W.R., Briggs, D.C., Davidson, K.L, Herlihy, C., Sherer, D., Hill, H.C., Farrell, C.C., & Allen, A-R. (2016). *Findings from a national survey of research use among school and district leaders* (Technical Report No. 1). Boulder, CO: National Center for Research in Policy and Practice. http://ncrpp.org/assets/documents/NCRPP_Technical-Report_180302.pdf ### URE Questions Addressed - How frequently do school and district leaders report that they use research and for what purposes? - Where do school and district leaders access research? - What individual and organizational characteristics are associated with research use? ### Instrument Origins This study used findings from three streams of scholarship on research use in education to inform the design of its survey instrument: 1. Categories (i.e. instrumental, conceptual, symbolic) first identified by Weiss and Bucuvalas (1980) were used to design inquiries about leaders’ purposes for research use. These categories suggest that research use by leaders is multifaceted. 2. Findings from empirical studies done by Coburn (2010) and Hubbard (2010) have suggested the importance of considering the ways in which education leaders access research and the types of research that they find useful. 3. Recent research on the correlates of research use across a range of fields, including education, were the motivation behind the survey’s focus on user characteristics and the organizational conditions that support evidence use. Expert reviews and item co-construction were used as a source of evidence for content validity. ### Range of Application Educational policymakers seeking to assess where leaders access research, the efforts made to find relevant research, and the organizational contexts of research use. ### Target Respondents Instructional policymakers (i.e. principals and central office leaders) from mid- and large-size U.S. urban districts who were likely to be involved in K-8 instructional decision-making. Principals and central office leaders were chosen as the targets of this study because they make the majority of decisions regarding what programs and interventions to adopt in schools. ### Number and Format of Items 47 items. The full survey can be found [here][2]. ### Scales/Domains and Subscales/Subdomains 9 Scales: *Use of Research* - 1. Instrumental use - 2. Conceptual use - 3. Symbolic use - 4. Imposed use 5. *Acquisition effort* *Attitudes Toward Research* - 6. Attitude toward value of research - 7. Attitude toward credibility of research - 8. Attitude toward relevance of research - 9. Culture of research use In addition, an open-ended item was used that asked a question about a specific instance when they found research useful - version A relates to instrumental use, while version B relates to conceptual use. ### Administration Mode Online ### Analytic Methods Simply code responses to each question. Responses to the open-ended item were coded using the coding system that appears in Exhibit A1 in the [technical document][3]. ### Author Contact Research community members may contact NCRPP researchers regarding questions about the survey and analyses by emailing william.penuel@colorado.edu and caitlin.farrell@colorado.edu. [1]: https://osf.io/eyj82/ [2]: https://osf.io/84hbu/ [3]: http://ncrpp.org/assets/documents/NCRPP_Technical-Report_180302.pdf