Wright State to help establish $3.8 million Ohio Education Research Center

Wright State University and nine partners have received a $3.8 million award from the Ohio Department of Education to establish a center to conduct education research and use it to improve teaching.

The Ohio Education Research Center (OERC) will have its offices on the campus of The Ohio State University.

“The OERC will draw on a network of researchers to identify best practices, translate research into applications for districts and educator preparation programs, document how districts successfully implement policy and provide data-based evidence for policy decisions,” said Jill Lindsey, who will represent Wright State on the OERC Research Agenda Council .

Lindsey, Ph.D., is chair of Leadership Studies at Wright State’s College of Education and Human Services.

Each of the 10 OERC partners has identified site lead researchers who will serve on the council and oversee case study research each year. For the 2011/12 research cycle, the Wright State research team, led by associate professor Suzanne Franco, ED.D., will complete a case study on the implementation of the Ohio Principal Evaluation System.

The center is a collaborative effort of researchers from Wright State, Ohio State, the University of Cincinnati, Miami University, Ohio University, Case Western Reserve University, Battelle Memorial Institute, Battelle for Kids, Community Research Partners and the Strategic Research Group.

Associate Professor Joshua D. Hawley, faculty member at Ohio State’s College of Education and Human Ecology and the John Glenn School of Public Affairs, will serve as the director of the center.