HOW TO LAUNCH A RESEARCH-PRACTICE PARTNERSHIP

Sharing their experiences around getting a partnership off the ground, Michèle Foster, Matt Linick, Michael Strambler, Joanna Meyer, Clare Irwin, and George Coleman provide insights on navigating this sometimes daunting and seldomly straightforward task.

EXPLORING ENGLISH LEARNERS’ TIME TO PROFICIENCY THROUGH TWO RESEARCH-PRACTICE PARTNERSHIPS

We bring together work on English learners, highlighting two studies done by NNERPP members – in Philadelphia, PA, and New Mexico – that assess students’ progress towards English proficiency. Findings around initial English (and Spanish, in one of the studies) proficiency, around students’ time to proficiency, around which students were more likely to reach English proficiency, and around the relationship between English/Spanish proficiency and other measures of student achievement can help inform district and state efforts in understanding how best to support English learners.

TRANSITIONING TO KINDERGARTEN: WHAT 3 RPPs FIND ON DISTRICT-LED PROGRAMS

Taking a closer look at the connections across early childhood education research produced by three NNERPP members – in Portland, OR, Madison, WI, and San Francisco, CA – we examine different versions of district-led kindergarten transition programs and what the partnerships’research tells us about how each program approaches the preparation of students for kindergarten. We also highlight policy implications and use in practice of the research studies. Bringing together these related studies allows insight into the spectrum of possibilities for how a district might approach the transition to kindergarten and illuminates how partnership research can impact such efforts.

MEASURING THE VALUE OF A RESEARCH-PRACTICE PARTNERSHIP

In response to one of the RPP field’s most pressing challenges – quantifying the positive impact of research-practice partnerships – Faith Connolly presents the comprehensive approach her partnership takes to capturing the essence of its value.

THE ROLE OF BROKERS IN RESEARCH-PRACTICE PARTNERSHIPS

As partnerships increasingly ponder the specific roles that might be essential to the success of RPPs, Carrie Conaway, Erin O’Hara, and Jessica Vasan share key insights on their experiences serving as brokers, or boundary spanners, in RPPs.