7 Things To Know About Redesigned

7 Things to know about reDesignED

Scenario

At this moment in history, the field of education is confronted with multiple simultaneous challenges: 1) how to navigate post-pandemic recovery and address the learning losses that have widened already long-standing achievement gaps, 2) how to counter the lack of engagement, motivation, absenteeism, and even drop-out rates by which students are letting us know that they are not finding school relevant and worth attending, 3) how to use emerging technologies as meaningful tools for learning, 4) how to foster enduring human-centered skills and dispositions so that all students can thrive and take advantage of what the future has to offer; 5) how to teach learners more than narrow disciplinary content to foster a mindset that is prepared to succeed in an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) modern world. Placing the above challenges in the context of a teaching workforce that is experiencing turnover, shortages and exhaustion from years of emergency remote teaching while at the same time asking teachers to address these simultaneous challenges presents the perfect storm.

01 | What is reDesignED?

reDesignED is the first independent, nonprofit education design research (EDR) lab in the Midwest of the United States dedicated to research-practice partnerships that address both enduring and emerging challenges in education. reDesignED partners with state education agencies, school districts, teachers, students, and communities to conduct education design research and to develop evidence-based strategies that address their pressing issues. Our EDR initiatives draw on scholarship aligned to the following mission categories:

  1. Educational leadership
  2. Equitable futures
  3. Learning design
  4. Relationship and wellbeing
  5. Skills for a changing world
  6. Sustainable futures
  7. Technology for learning
  8. Ways of knowing.

When designing interventions, multiple areas of scholarship are usually enacted together in the final product. The desired outcome of our initiatives are equitable, resilient, sustainable, future-oriented learning communities.

02 | What is Education Design Research?

Education Design Research (EDR) is a socially-responsive science that changes the fundamental research question from “how can we identify the factors that contribute to an existing problem to how can we ameliorate the problem and design interventions that improve the conditions for learners directly?” (Reeves, 2025). The first guiding principle of EDR is “its focus on a persistent problem of practice from multiple stakeholders’ perspectives” (McKenney & Reeves, 2025). A second guiding principle is that EDR initiatives must be substantiated by existing theories and frameworks in order to articulate a direct relationship between the design intervention and the desired outcome. A third guiding principle is the highly collaborative and iterative nature of EDR which allows us to work directly with local education partners to arrive at solutions for contextualized problems while simultaneously advancing education research valuable for future contexts. It is the useful knowledge gleaned from EDR initiatives in the form of design principles, design processes, design frameworks that has the potential to support evidence-based practice at scale (McKenney & Schunn, 2018).

03 | How does it work?

In any given project, reDesignED brings together education researchers, instructional designers, technology partners, educators, students and community members to iteratively design, develop, and test a design intervention until there is a discernible improvement. Because improved learning is the desired outcome, the design and development process traditionally begins and ends with learner input. It follows that reDesignED places learners at the center of their education initiatives. The goal is to work with local stakeholders to 1) collaboratively frame the problem to be solved, 2) fully assess needs and identify root causes, 3) design and develop innovative interventions grounded in evidence-based practice, 4) review early outcomes for what works for educators, families, and students, and 5) iterate until there is a discernible improvement to the problem. A second goal is to advance knowledge about the implementation to serve in like contexts. The benefits of this approach are multifold. From a research perspective, EDR is a promising approach for producing more relevant research, while simultaneously improving the use of research evidence in decision making. From a practice perspective, EDR engages researchers and practitioners to tackle problems of practice with direct benefits to learners.

04 | Who does the work?

reDesignED is organized as a research collaborative that draws from existing networks of improvement scientists as well as from the large pool of education scholars with expertise in topics aligned to reDesignED’s mission categories. Education scholars come together for any one initiative to 1) write grant proposals, 2) provide content expertise, 3) design and develop evidence-based design interventions, 4) apply improvement science methods, and 5) publish our findings.

We welcome education scholars interested in collaborative research to contact us through the Stay Connected form on our website to explore Research Fellow opportunities. Additionally, we announce project-specific open calls through relevant AERA special interest groups when specialized expertise is needed.

Advisory board members

reDesignED’s Advisory Board members are leading education scholars whose scholarship guides one or more of reDesignED’s mission categories: 1) Educational leadership, 2) Equitable futures, 3) Learning design, 4) Relationship and wellbeing, 5) Skills for a changing world, 6) Sustainable futures, 7) Technology for learning, 8) Ways of knowing. When designing interventions, many of these scholarships are enacted together in the final product.

Research fellows

reDesignED’s Research Fellows provide expertise in their area of scholarship and support the implementation of initiatives through a broad range of tailored services, including research and evaluation, technical assistance, and policy guidance.

Design fellows

reDesignED’s Design Fellows support the design, development, and implementation of EDR initiatives with a range of design services and instructional design support grounded in evidence-based practice. Design fellows work collaboratively with local stakeholders to guide instructional design processes and promote stakeholder self- determination and success.

05 | What makes us unique?

What makes reDesignED unique is the full vertical integration between research and practice by combining scientific rigor with evidence-based design services. While traditional research identifies the problems, and provides the evidence base for specific solutions, reDesignED works with local communities to implement best practices within local contexts. This frequently means designing a custom intervention to support local implementation.

We measure success by three criteria: positive local impact, successful stakeholder collaboration and empowerment, and the ability to inform wider practice. Our use-inspired, impact-focused approach draws on three key areas of  expertise.

Improvement Science

reDesignED collaborates with a large network of improvement scientists whose approaches are tailored to a wide variety of contexts and improvement goals. Our work integrates multiple improvement science methodologies, including Education Design Research (EDR). Vice Chair Dr. Thomas C. Reeves is an authority on EDR, having published two books on the subject and guided years of EDR initiatives. This expertise allows us to combine systematic inquiry with iterative design, ensuring our interventions are both theoretically grounded and practically effective. To find the improvement science approach that best fits your context, explore reDesignED’s Improvement Science Approach Selector.

Learning design

Board member Dr. Brad Hokanson has led the instructional design community on topics of design thinking, design processes, and the importance of creativity in instructional design and curriculum development. reDesignED’s founder, Dr. Christiane Reilly completed her PhD with a double EDR study focused on design principles that quantify authentic learning experiences and foster future-facing skills (Reilly & Reeves, 2022, 2023, 2024).

Our expertise in learning design translates research into professional learning pathways that serve both local districts and remote communities through multimodal delivery ranging from self-paced modules to embedded learning communities. We specialize in designing authentic learning experiences that are culturally-responsive, evidence-based, personalized, and competency-based. Additionally, we offer comprehensive design and development services from course creation and accreditation to strategic consultation on improving learning experiences and outcomes.

Learning outcomes assessment

reDesignED provides expertise in learning outcomes assessment for both disciplinary learning outcomes and higher-order skills. Through learning management systems, we gather data on initiative implementation to advance local goals. Our assessment expertise generates reliable data for stakeholders, informs policy design and implementation, and advances theoretical knowledge about learning.

06 | Why is EDR significant?

The significance of education design research is that DESIGN is central to addressing current educational challenges simultaneously. Research on 21st-century learning environments shows that teaching and learning have become a design science (Laurillard, 2013). Preparing learners for a rapidly changing world while maintaining foundational literacies requires designing learning experiences that are authentic, culturally-responsive, evidence-based, personalized, inclusive, and competency-based. Studies demonstrate that authentic learning experiences naturally connect these elements (Reilly & Reeves, 2024). reDesignED supports teachers in becoming designers of these experiences at the local level.

07 | What is our theory of change?

Our theory of change is grounded in research showing that informed, reflective collaboration with local stakeholders can overcome significant research-practice gaps and improve outcomes (McKenney & Reeves, 2025; Voogt et al., 2015).

We frequently embed professional learning within our EDR initiatives. Our approach supports teachers in becoming the designers of sustainable, locally relevant solutions. Evidence indicates that providing instructional design support helps teachers integrate new practices within their disciplinary contexts, addressing local constraints while producing transferable examples for other educators (Westbroek et al., 2019).

Our bottom line

Education scientists produce abundant knowledge about what students need to thrive, yet this knowledge doesn’t consistently reach practice. We believe education design research (EDR) and other improvement science approaches can bridge this gap. Because real-world educational problems are complex and context-specific (Reeves, 2025), they require a collaborative approach that brings together the right expertise to work alongside local stakeholders. Our services translate research into actionable, impact-focused outcomes that address these contextual realities. Through this work, we’re building toward a society where everyone has the opportunity to realize their unique potential.