It is the added dimension of research, testing theory in practice that differentiates the School Leadership Institute from many other leadership centers. Research activities increase knowledge about school leadership and school improvement through development, evaluation, and assessing current practices. Research activities include:

• sponsoring ongoing school leadership research pertaining to accountability and best practices.
• providing abstracts and research briefs to practitioners on request
• collecting, sorting, and analyzing data to develop interactive compact disks based on actual field experiences
• collecting data, sorting, and analyzing data to be used in a book following the conceptual frame of Good to Great by Jim Collins.

Data will be continually collected from participants and subsequent results shall be provided to participants to better inform their practices. Results will not only be used to contribute to the body of knowledge pertaining to the field of educational leadership, but also to help determine and shape programming and services provided by the University to practitioners and prospective students.
Also, when disseminated to participants, data collected from participants will be integrated with relevant literature and serve as a link between theory and informed practice.