Practitioner Perspectives of the What Works Clearinghouse - A Summary of the First Year of the Small Working Group of Experienced Education Practitioners

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Melati

Practitioner Perspectives of the What Works Clearinghouse summarizes feedback from fall 2023 through four SWEEP meetings beginning in November 2023. The Small Working Group of Experienced Education Practitioners (SWEEP) includes education system roles spanning classroom experience and school and district leadership. It evaluates how educators find, understand, and apply WWC evidence, and identifies improvements for practice guides, supporting resources, reach, and WWC website search tools. Key recommendations address clarity, usability, and access to implementation supports.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages3

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

What is the SWEEP?

Who participates in SWEEP

What did the SWEEP discuss?

Practice guides

Supporting resources for practice guides

Reach of WWC resources

WWC website search tools

Practitioner Perspectives ofthe What Works Clearinghouse A Summary of the First Year of the Small Working Group of Experienced Education Practitioners A Publication of the National Center for Education Evaluation at IES What Works Clearinghouse™ September 2024 U. S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) serves as a central and trusted source of scientific evidence for what works in education. The WWC designs its resources to help educators, administrators, families, researchers, and policymakers make evidence-based decisions. In fall 2023, the WWC convened the Small Working Group of Experienced Education Practitioners (SWEEP) to provide feedback that will allow the WWC to improve its resources. WHAT IS THE SWEEP? The SWEEP brings together education practitioners with diverse perspectives to help the WWC learn how educators use and apply evidence. The group has nine members who hold different roles in the education system, including experience in the classroom and as school and district leaders. The SWEEP generates ideas for improving WWC resources so that educators can: • Find and understand the information the WWC provides. • Use the content to make evidence-based decisions, set priorities, and develop programs and policies. • Use WWC resources to inform practice and decision making. All of these are designed to help the WWC make sure that education practitioners find, understand, and use WWC resources to improve education in the United States. WHAT DID THE SWEEP DISCUSS? Beginning in November 2023, the SWEEP met four times to discuss improving WWC practice guides, WWC supporting resources for practice guides, the reach ofWWC resources, and the WWC’s website search tools. In these meetings, SWEEP members provided valuable feedback on whether current offerings meet the needs of education practitioners and how they can be improved. The SWEEP will continue to meet regularly. PRACTICE GUIDES Practice guides are publications that present evidence-based recommendations for educators to address challenges in their classrooms and schools. They provide how-to steps and tips for implementation with specific examples and advice from experts on potential solutions to roadblocks to success. What is working well? Among all current WWC resources, SWEEP members view WWC practice guides as the most useful (Figure 1). They particularly appreciated the implementation advice provided in practice guides, such as how to address obstacles. What needs to be improved? SWEEP members critiqued the length and dense text in practice guides and suggested providing additional support for educators to implement and use the recommendations. Specific ideas included: • Breaking up the long document into smaller documents, each with a focus on one recommendation. • Increasing the guides’ visual appeal by using more graphics, callout boxes, and lists so educators can more easily find help. • Linking to supporting vignettes, resources, podcasts, and video clips to provide more in-depth information and tailor the content to different audiences. • Developing resources and activities to help teachers implement the recommendations on their own, collaboratively, and via professional development or coaching. Figure 1. WWC resources and their ranking of usefulness among SWEEP members The ranking question is calculated with a points system in which the item ranked first will get as many points as the total number of items available in the question, and then descending. With five items to rank, the item ranked first receives five points, the second four points, and so on. The length of the line represents an average of the number of points received, based upon ranking. SUPPORTING RESOURCES FOR PRACTICE GUIDES The WWC uses resources like videos, webinars, infographics, and one-page summaries to help educators understand and implement practice guide recommendations. What is working well? SWEEP memb

FAQs

What is the SWEEP and why was it convened?

The What Works Clearinghouse convened the Small Working Group of Experienced Education Practitioners (SWEEP) to provide feedback so WWC can improve its resources. SWEEP brings together practitioners with diverse perspectives to learn how educators use and apply evidence.

What did SWEEP recommend improving about WWC practice guides?

SWEEP suggested addressing long and dense text by breaking guides into smaller documents focused on single recommendations. Members also recommended more visual elements and linking to supporting vignettes and other multimedia resources.

How did SWEEP think WWC resources could expand their reach?

SWEEP noted that some practitioners and administrators are already aware of WWC, but recommended expanding awareness and access. It identified educator preparation program staff and leaders of professional development as potential audiences and proposed ways to increase awareness.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Melati