Thinking towards the future

Welcome back to ETS Praxis’s three-part interview series with Senior Research Scientist Dr. Geoffrey Phelps on how ETS is approaching its research collaboration with Study.com.

Part 2 covered what Dr. Phelps finds so exciting about an in-depth study of Keys to the Classroom. For this final segment, Dr. Phelps muses on what the future could hold for ETS Praxis and Study.com.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

Further kinds of research

"The challenge is, there's so many interesting things to look at!"

Praxis Editorial Team: Moving forward, what other research are you considering in partnership with Study.com?

Geoffrey Phelps: Study.com is a new partner for us. At ETS, we've got a lot of test data, but we don't have a lot of data on what candidates do to prepare, particularly when they don't pass. Now Study.com has a lot of data on how people use their program, but they don't have great data on their prior testing, what they're learning needs are, or on subsequent testing: to what degree the program is associated with future pass rates. And when we talk to Study.com, we get very excited about bringing together our different data.

Praxis Editorial Team: Is there anything in particular that you’re hoping to focus on?

Geoffrey Phelps: The challenge is, there's so many interesting things to look at! Right now, we're looking at people who are using the program. In the future, we're interested in a wider range of users, including folks who don't touch the program so we can understand how to get them involved. Many of them might end up having a real need and never have an opportunity to learn that content, show mastery on Praxis, and then never enter the profession.

I can say with some confidence that we will design some studies where we talk to a select group of Study.com users to better understand why they're making the decisions: what factors are supporting or hindering their ability to prepare for Praxis? Some of which might be additional learning resources, or it could be other things. Like, they really need peer groups to share with and talk about their experiences - to motivate them, and to celebrate their successes so that they're not so alone in the process. We need to talk to candidates to better understand what they need in order to succeed.

Moving towards a paradigm shift

"Designing and thinking about work in ways that it can be rigorous, trustworthy, and impactful for multiple audiences is just exciting."

Praxis Editorial Team: It seems to me that what you’re describing is more expansive than just test-taking data.

Geoffrey Phelps: We are really making a shift as an organization to providing much more extensive, career-long learning support for all kinds of communities of practitioners, both candidates who are still preparing to be teachers and beginning teachers who are going through inducting experience. Teachers can create communities to support each other, many of which might be virtual, and the kind of work we're doing with Study.com will help us begin to understand what kinds of needs teacher candidates and practicing teachers have at different stages of their career, both in terms of professional learning and other kinds of professional support.

Those kinds of understandings will grow out of the work we're doing with Study.com. We think there's going to be lots of lessons on how we can support a larger number of more diverse teachers - who teach in different kinds of settings - succeed and persist in their careers.

Praxis Editorial Team: These lessons you allude to – do they fit into the conventional model of educator support and cultivation?

Geoffrey Phelps: We need to have a bit of a paradigm shift: we need to go into this focusing on improvement and how we can design in ways that help us learn. Here's an opportunity to think about a group of people who aren't being well served and how we can start to serve their needs. At the end of the day, designing and thinking about work in ways that it can be rigorous, trustworthy, and impactful for multiple audiences is just exciting - I'm excited to be thinking about how to do that with colleagues here at ETS and Study.com.

Thanks for reading our three-part interview with Dr. Geoffrey Phelps. You can access previous entries at the following links:

• Part 1 - Unlocking Diversity: ETS and Study.com Research Explores Keys to the Classroom
• Part 2 - Unveiling Educational Impact: ETS Praxis Ventures into New Research Horizons

Want to keep learning about what Praxis and Study.com are planning?