The Research and Development (R&D) Department is a central source of information for the TDSB as well as community, academic, and government partners. The department is a leader in public education research and evaluation work locally, nationally, and internationally.
Our mission is to collect, build, and mobilize evidence, information, and knowledge for the TDSB to support the needs of students, schools, parents, and the community. By linking people, improving system capacity and sharing information, the R&D Department supports a number of essential areas within the TDSB.
Information about students and our communities helps the Board and its schools to make informed decisions to enhance achievement, equity, and well-being.
To ensure the highest level of accuracy and meet all necessary research standards, TDSB’s Research Department has a strict document review process in place. Reports are peer-reviewed in order to meet standards of rigour, validity, and reliability (for reports drawing on quantitative methods) as well as authenticity, trustworthiness, and plausibility (for reports drawing on qualitative and mixed methods research). The reports, which are written with a team-based approach, are also analyzed using software to identify any potential errors and omissions in citations, non-original content and misuse of content.