The Research Kit Collects Evidence About Mechanisms
Field evidence protocol and five instruments
Companion to The Child Should Never Experience the Organizational Chart · Updated 2026-09-30
The published research can establish constraints and plausible mechanisms. It cannot supply the most distinctive evidence about how coordination works in a particular school or district. That evidence has to come from operating experience, and structured collection serves it better than more general prose. This kit is for the authors, and equally for a school or district team applying the book to its own evidence.
Start with the protocol, which says whom to interview and what counts as evidence. Then use the instruments. Read the privacy page before you record anything about a real child or family.
- Capture cases that separate what happened from what people made of it: the field evidence protocol.
- Ask practitioners about the last time they needed another role: Instrument 1, the Practitioner Interview.
- Ask families in plain language what work they do to connect the school: Instrument 2, the Family Interview.
- Map one representative week before reducing any adult’s role: Instrument 3, the Student Journey Map.
- Abstract each candidate case on one sheet: Instrument 4, the Case Abstraction Sheet.
- Ask reviewers whether each diagnostic item can be seen and illustrated: Instrument 5, the Practitioner Review of the Diagnostic.
- Record the mechanism and leave out the child’s identity: rules for what not to record.
The purpose is evidence about mechanisms, not a collection of inspiring stories. The book prints the protocol and the five instruments in its appendices, “Farhana’s Field Evidence Protocol” and “Field Research Instruments.”
In this section
- Capture Cases That Separate What Happened From What People Made of It
Who to interview, what to ask about one case that went well and one that went badly, and the five-part standard every story must meet before it is considered for publication.
- Ask Practitioners About the Last Time They Needed Another Role
A blank interview form for practitioners that starts with role and context, not opinions about the framework, and asks about coordination that worked and coordination that failed.
- Ask Families in Plain Language What Work They Do to Connect the School
A blank family interview form in plain language that asks what the family has to repeat, reconcile, and manage, without asking families to diagnose organizational silos.
- Map One Representative Week Before Reducing Any Adult’s Role
A blank form for mapping one student’s representative school week block by block, then marking every place the child restarts, loses time, or the family connects the pieces.
- Abstract Each Candidate Case on One Sheet
A blank one-sheet form for recording a candidate case: what was known at the start, who owned what, where the loops stayed open, and what evidence would weaken the interpretation.
- Ask Reviewers Whether Each Diagnostic Item Can Be Seen and Illustrated
A blank review form in which practitioners rate each diagnostic item on four tests, say whether improving it would matter to a child or family, and give an example.
- Record the Mechanism and Leave Out the Child’s Identity
What not to record when gathering cases, journey maps, and family accounts, and how to describe a student broadly enough that the mechanism survives and the child does not.