|PDF (1 MB)| APPENDIX A: Research Methodology The research
approach for this guide is a combination of case study
methodology and benchmarking of "best practices." Used in
businesses worldwide as they seek to continuously improve their
operations, benchmarking has more recently been applied to
education. Benchmarking is a structured, efficient process that
targets key operations and identifies promising practices in
relationship to traditional practice, previous practice at the
selected sites (lessons learned), and local outcome data. The
methodology is further explained in a background document,16
which lays out the justification for identifying promising
practices based on four sources of rigor in the approach: -
theory and research base; - expert review; - site evidence of
effectiveness; and - systematic field research and cross-site
-analysis. The steps of the research process were: defining a
study scope, seeking input from experts to refine the scope and
inform site selection criteria, screening potenti