In 2022-2023, ERDC embarked on a process to develop critical questions topic areas in education in Washington state and to develop a five-year research agenda. This process involved identifying five critical question topic areas, in consultation with data contributors and legislative staff and committees. These questions provide an overarching framework to guide ERDC’s research projects that examine systemwide practices and outcomes.
Next, using the critical questions as a guiding framework, ERDC convened a workgroup consisting of more than 30 agencies, community-based organizations, and researchers to determine research topics and questions of vital importance to Washington’s students, families, and education systems. The workgroup represented the diverse perspectives that ERDC serves. Through a series of meetings, the workgroup identified numerous topic areas and research questions whose answers would have a meaningful impact on understanding and improving equity in student access, experiences, and outcomes. These topics and questions were categorized based on ERDC’s critical question areas and prioritized according to numerous factors.
Key Documents
Research Agenda at a Glance
| Priority area of research | Description |
|---|---|
| Dual enrollment and dual credit | ERDC is legislatively required to provide information on dual credit and dual enrollment programs. In addition to the required elements, research questions under this topic area will expand knowledge about access and outcomes related to dual credit and enrollment. |
| Child welfare system | ERDC is legislatively required to provide information on students in foster care and students experiencing homelessness. In addition to the required elements, research questions under this topic area will expand knowledge about these students as well evaluate resources available to these students and how they impact outcomes. |
| Institutional education, juvenile justice, and school discipline |
ERDC is legislatively required to provide information on students who participate in institutional education. In addition to the required elements, research questions under this topic area will examine factors that might relate to student interaction with the criminal legal system. |
| School education personnel, characteristics, and resources | This topic area examines how school and personnel factors drive student experiences and outcomes. |
| Family, household, and neighborhood, characteristics | This topic area situates student outcomes within social, economic, and community context and examines how this broader context contributes to student outcomes. |
| COVID-19 | This topic area explores some of the potential consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic and policy responses to the pandemic on outcomes across sectors. |
| High school transitions |
This section expands on ERDC’s high school outcomes dashboard and previous reports on factors related to transitions from high school to postsecondary and workforce. |
| Workforce and postsecondary systems | This priority topic area focuses on workforce and postsecondary populations to examine ways to improve human capital development and economic opportunity. |
| Data and measures | The goal of research under this topic area is to improve the underlying data and methods used to answer program and policy questions. |