Chapter 8: Research Into Practice: A Case Study of How Success for all Builds Knowledge for School Improvement

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the linkage between research and practice in one instance of educational reform. We use Success for All (SFA), a research-based, whole-school reform model that focuses on reading, as a case in point. Drawing on Cochran-Smith and Lytle’s (1999) framework for relating knowledge and practice, we discuss the forms of knowledge Success for All draws on in its work. In general, we find that there is considerable “formal” research knowledge—or knowledge-for-practice—informing SFA. However, while there is a reliance on rigorous, traditional, quantitative research methods in informing model development, there is also a commitment to learn from teacher practice—and to support teachers’ reflection on their own practice. We also find that the federal policy context has both enabled and constrained SFA—and more recently, become part of the “knowledge” of what constitutes SFA. Implications for further research and theory building are discussed.