Design-based Implementation Research: A Collaborative Approach to Educate Out-of-school Children

Design-Based Implementation Research (DBIR) is a research approach that is focused on building the capacity of long-term collaborations between research and practice for sustainable and equitable change within an educational system. It is a systematic approach for working with stakeholders to iteratively design research that investigates the implementation process so that it answers questions of importance in the local context. DBIR is an emerging approach to relating research and practice that is collaborative, iterative, and grounded in systematic inquiry where researchers and practitioners work in partnership to formulate theories of learning, implementation and organization, and enable sustainable change within education systems. It builds the capacity of systems to engage in continuous improvement. DBIR is an equity-oriented education research methodology where teaching and learning are informed by robust, iterative, evidence-based research conducted by multiple stakeholders. Digitally Operated One-Room Schoolhouse (DOORS) model provides an adaptable, sustainable, and scalable solution to provide quality and inclusive education to underprivileged out-of-school children (OOSC), suited to their local challenges and limitations. This paper presents the pragmatic evolution of the DOORS model to the DBIR approach through multiple iterations and active collaboration of researchers, practitioners, OOSC parents and other stakeholders.