
Our Student Behavior Research team — comprising accomplished and experienced researchers and analysts across SRI — works with state and local education agencies to select, implement, and evaluate programs that meet their high priority education needs. We help partners select and adopt programs that work to improve school climate and safety, increase students’ school connectedness and academic engagement, enhance student and staff relationships, and reduce student behavior problems within multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS).
– Program Administrator
For decades we have helped districts and schools develop supportive environments and policies that enhance protective factors and improve academic performance. We work closely with dozens of school district leaders and teachers, intervention developers, other researchers, and funders, and we would love to add you to the team. Here’s our philosophy about working relationships and why we value collaboration dearly.

We leverage the unique and multi-disciplinary capacities of SRI — including teams of scientists exploring the uses of artificial intelligence, robotics, information technology, and health sciences — and bring them to the educational arena to explore innovations in improving system, educator, and student outcomes. Whether you’re a school leader or teacher, an intervention developer, or a funder looking to invest in effective classroom management and social-emotional interventions, you’ll find a variety of benefits in partnering with us.
Why Work with SRI’s Student Behavior Research Team?

Our Work With Teachers and School Leaders
Broad and Deep Experience: Our decades of experience implementing and evaluating school-based interventions helps us understand advantages and practical limitations of conducting research in schools.
Focus on High Priority Needs: We engage school community members throughout all phases of our studies while holding a deep respect for school professionals’ educational decisions, school policies and procedures, and values.
Rigor and Credibility: We pride ourselves on our high integrity to the rigor of our research practices, the security of our data management, and the protection of research participants.
Community Engagement Approach: We will work with you to align resources that meet your schools’ needs and support the sustainability of the programs that improve behavioral and educational outcomes.
“Working with SRI has been fantastic; it’s one of the highlights of my work. This partnership really expands and deepens our expertise. The way that Carl and Michelle do their work is very intentional, professional, and thoughtful. They’ve strengthened bringing these opportunities to focus on evidence-based interventions and also bring in the research aspect of it. They introduce us to curricula that we may not find or have easy access to. With both Bounce Back and CBITS, we were able to meet the developer, and some of the best trainers in the country come to train our social workers. That helps to build high quality training and support for social workers and they really appreciate it. Carl and Michelle are really willing to take our feedback and go out of their way to support our social workers.”
–Jennifer Donahue, Program Administrator with San Francisco Unified School District

Our Work With Intervention Developers and Research Partners
Broad and Deep Experience: We have extensive experience in conducting research and development (R&D) projects across learning environments from early childhood to postsecondary levels.
Focus on High Priority Needs: We understand intervention development and we respect the product and your educational aims while maintaining a rigorous, independent approach to the study design.
Rigor and Credibility: We have the capacity to scale research and evaluation work across locations, creating efficient data collection and analysis processes to support large-scale studies aligned with What Works Clearinghouse quality standards.
Community Engagement Approach: We partner with developers and user communities to interpret and disseminate research findings, leveraging SRI’s dedicated team of communications experts to get findings into the hands of all interest holders.
“I have had the privilege of working with Drs. Woodbridge and Sumi and the SRI team on several research projects related to materials/strategies I have developed. They provide the highest quality of methodological-rigor while insuring fidelity to the intervention model that is the subject of the research. In addition, they consistently treat school and district personnel with respect and they honor the myriad of priorities that the practitioners are juggling every day. Carl and Michelle consistently create wins for the research community, the intervention developer, and the practitioners doing all the real work. I look forward to future opportunities to work with them and the entire SRI team.”
—Randy Sprick, Ph.D., director of Teaching Strategies, Inc. and the lead consultant for Safe & Civil Schools

Our Work With Funders
(e.g., local, state, or federal agency; foundation)
Broad and Deep Experience: Our research team is highly responsive to funders’ priorities and mission. We produce on-time, on-budget, high-quality deliverables.
Focus on High Priority Needs: We build close, professional relationships with our project officers and communicate honestly and accurately about progress to ensure we exceed expectations.
Rigor and Credibility: Our team includes methodologists with sophisticated and state-of-the-art knowledge about analytics—from hierarchical models to cost-effectiveness analysis.
Community Engagement Approach: We put practical information into the hands of professionals and providers and leverage a broad range of communications channels to disseminate our work and findings across the globe.
“SRI consistently produced high quality products, including the research that was done as well as the written products. Overall, they have always done an exceptional job meeting the contract requirements. Personnel employed on the contract were of the highest quality. The team exceeded expectations in all regard…The customer service provided by SRI was outstanding. Response to any request is timely.”
—Excerpt from federal contract performance review
How YOU can form a partnership with us
Please contact us at studentbehaviorblog@sri.com to schedule a phone call or meeting to discuss your partnership interests, resource needs, and research priorities.
Topics: Research design
Tags: Collaboration Partners Partnerships Student Behavior Research Team Top 10 reasons to work with us