The Ozarks Educational Research Initiative (OERI) is a research, evaluation, and development organization whose primary purpose is to improve, promote, and disseminate educational research by conducting studies and program evaluations. Through this collaboration among member school districts and the College of Education, Missouri State University serves as a means for providing a network of educational researchers and educators in southwest Missouri. The OERI is a means for providing a collaborative network of educational researchers and educators in southwest Missouri.
Such collaboration in educational research shall provide benefits that include, but are not limited to:
- Careful and collaborative planning;
- Developing and identifying evidence-based practices;
- Generating new knowledge;
- Improving educational practices;
- Developing educational policy;
- Developing improvements/changes in educational theory;
- Facilitating dialogue and negotiating between educators and researchers;
- Developing new learning for all parties;
- Developing innovative instruments and methods for schools conducting educational research and evaluation;
- Assuring protection of human subjects through clearly defined methodologies for research and evaluation; and
- Enhancing dissemination of results to other Districts
