Educational Improvement Science: The Art of the Improving Organization - Article

Oct 15, 2026

The paper advocates educational improvement science (EIS) as an emerging transdisciplinary field. It reflects on three major pathways of educational advancement in human history, examines misuses and pitfalls of reform, and theorizes how education can be improved to better serve its mission. Using a multiperspectival method, the study synthesizes global reform insights through literature review, etymological analysis, international comparisons, and socio-historical, cultural, and philosophical reflections.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time1 h 0 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Purpose

Design/Approach/Methods

Findings

Education mission: Which pathway?

The maintenance or fine-tuning pathway

The destruction-and-reconstruction pathway

Pragmatic incremental improvement pathway

Educational Improvement Science: The Art of the Improving Organization Jun Li (李军) Western University ECNU Review of Education 2024, Vol. 7(3) 714–737 © The Author(s) 2023 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/20965311231201985](DOI: 10.1177/20965311231201985)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/20965311231201985)[journals.sagepub.com/home/roe](journals.sagepub.com/home/roe) Abstract Purpose: To advocate educational improvement science (EIS) as an emerging transdisciplinary ﬁeld, I reﬂect on the three major pathways of educational advancement in human history, discern the misuses and pitfalls of reform, and theorize how education can be improved to better serve its mission. Design/Approach/Methods: Employing a multiperspectival approach, I critically re-examine educational reforms and improvements worldwide and conceptualize the emerging transdisciplinary ﬁeld through an extensive literature review, etymological analysis, international comparisons, and socio-historical, -cultural and -philosophical reﬂections. Findings: In this paper, I advance the concept of neo-improvementalism for EIS by elucidating its philosophical assumptions, disciplinary fundamentals, and theoretical frameworks through historical and comparative lenses. I identify and construct disciplinary knowledge of EIS comprising two categories, namely, subject matter knowledge and profound knowledge, adopted from improvement science. I then highlight three methodological approaches of EIS and the building of professional improvement communities empowering individual and institutional improvement capabilities. I propose that EIS is the art of the improving organization for classes, schools, and/or more broadly deﬁned educational agencies. Corresponding author: Jun Li, Faculty of Education, Western University, London, Ontario N6G1G7, Canada. Email: [jun.li@uwo.ca](jun.li@uwo.ca) Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as speciﬁed on the SAGE and Open Access page ([https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage](https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage)). Originality/Value: This study recognizes the signiﬁcance of EIS and research thereon, especially discipline-building and exploration based on local characteristics in a global vision, and the cultivation of new frontiers of educational research and practices. Keywords Educational improvement, educational reform, evidence-based research, improving organization, neo-improvementalism, professional improvement community Date received: 2 November 2022; revised: 24 March 2023; accepted: 3 May 2023 Education mission: Which pathway? As a recurring topic, education mission has been a mainstay of concern and research. Certainly, the definition and norms ofeducation mission differ across historical periods andpolitical, economic, ethnic, religious, cultural, and other backgrounds. Regardless of society or geopolitical region, education is often characterizedby incongruous or even conﬂictingmissions. How education should fulﬁll its predetermined mission is a global and perennial concern. Consequently, how education can be improved to better realize its mission under the prevailing conditions has been a critical, fundamental question at the core of almost all educational policies, practices, studies, and related discussions throughout human history. This critical and fundamental question has primarily been explored through three common epistemological pathways. The ﬁrst one takes for granted the status quo of education and the provisions sat

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the paper on educational improvement science (EIS)?

To advocate EIS as an emerging transdisciplinary field by reflecting on historical pathways of educational advancement, identifying pitfalls of reform, and theorizing how education can be improved to better meet its mission.

How does the author develop and conceptualize EIS in the study?

The paper uses a multiperspectival approach, drawing on an extensive literature review, etymological analysis, international comparisons, and socio-historical, cultural, and philosophical reflections.

What does the paper propose EIS is, and what knowledge does it emphasize?

EIS is framed as the art of the improving organization for classes, schools, and educational agencies. The study constructs disciplinary knowledge in EIS with categories such as subject matter knowledge and profound knowledge.

Oct 15, 2026

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