Purpose: A growing body of research suggests that Research-Practice Partnerships (RPPs) are contributing to greater use of research in decision-making around school improvement efforts. The current study is part of an RPP including 11 K-12 schools in an urban fringe school district in California. This RPP aims to develop a deeper understanding of…

In research-practice partnerships (RPPs), the line between researcher and practitioner can be blurred, and the roles for everyone involved may be unclear. Yet little is known about how these roles are negotiated and with what consequences for collaborative efforts. Guided by organizational theory, we share findings from a multiyear case study of…

Translating research into practice is a cornerstone for Extension programs. We developed an intentional and collaborative translational process for converting evidence-based knowledge from Latino youth development literature into Extension practice. The process resulted in internal audience-specific fact sheets summarizing research findings as…

In educational contexts where many domains subject to improvement are interdependent and causal evidence is frequently lacking it is difficult, if not impossible, for policymakers and educational practitioners to decide which domain should be invested in. This paper proposes a new method that uses Conditional Mean Independent Correlations (CMIC)…

There is growing recognition that the traditional research paradigm fails to address the needs of school practitioners. As such, more collaborative and participatory approaches are being encouraged. Yet few articles examine the structures, processes, and dynamics of research-practice partnerships. To address this gap, this essay analyzes a…

Pressures are increasing on educational policy and practice to use research to guide improvement. Recently there have been concerted efforts to forge new and different kinds of relationships between researchers and practitioners. School districts across the country are developing a new kind of partnership with researchers. These research-practice…

As public servants who work most closely with children, teachers have first-hand knowledge of the needs of the changing demographics of urban public schools in the United States. Teachers who engage in research, and researchers who are former teachers, enjoy unique positions in conducting investigations and sharing and implementing findings.…

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) serves a large majority of socioeconomically disadvantaged students who are struggling academically and are underprepared for high school graduation and college. This article describes the partnership between LAUSD and the Los Angeles Education Research Institute, and how this collaboration endeavors…

The Curriculum and Pedagogy book series is an enactment of the mission and values espoused by the Curriculum and Pedagogy Group, an international educational organization serving those who share a common faith in democracy and a commitment to public moral leadership in schools and society. Accordingly, the mission of this series is to advance…

High-performance, high-poverty schools are distinguished from other high-poverty schools by the strength of their school-level and district leadership, described as goal-oriented and ethical; their commitment to building a learning community, characterized by inclusion, collegiality, and collaboration; and their focus on putting research on how…

The California Educational Research Cooperative (CERC) is a partnership between county and local school systems and the School of Education at the University of California, Riverside. The annual report of this organization is presented. The report details the missions and goals of CERC and its effort to bring professionals and research scholars…

Intermediary organizations have become increasingly prominent participants in education policy implementation despite limited knowledge about their distinctive functions and the conditions that constrain and enable those functions. This article addresses that research-practice gap by drawing on theories of organizational ecology and findings from…

The California Educational Research Cooperative (CERC) of the School of Education, University of California, Riverside, was established in 1988 as a joint venture designed to bring educational professionals and researchers together. CERC is a partnership among the Riverside and San Bernadino County Offices of Education, 19 local school districts,…

Thirteen California K-12 teachers of bilingual education and English as a second language participated in a 3-year program to create new teaching strategies based on the Natural Approach theory. Their involvement in research-informed teaching enhanced their bilingual education practices and renewed their confidence and enthusiasm in their teaching…

This document provides a framework for academic and career/technical teachers who want to raise students' achievement through real-life projects reflecting the rigorous academic and technical standards needed for further learning in the workplace and postsecondary education. The document begins with definitions of the six A's of project-based…