Educators and researchers often think of program design and program evaluation as separate endeavors, even intentionally creating a firewall between them. But what if designers and evaluators worked together, combining their insights to strengthen both the program and the study of it? In the work of evaluating a statewide professional learning…

Research findings have identified the importance of university/district partnerships in the preparation of principals along with points of dissatisfaction of traditional preparation programs outcomes. While change had and was occurring in some programs, impactful change in the quality of programs and program completers must involve all…

This publication is a supplementary resource to MENTOR's long-standing program guidance document, "The Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™" (ED594036). For over 20 years, the various iterations of that document (now in its 4th edition) have served as a starting point for community leaders and youth-serving professionals looking…

Purpose: Research in this field is becoming increasingly clear that a teacher residency program (TRP) has a strong potential for developing effective teachers in a teacher preparation context. There are specific features of a TRP that yield results in the development of teachers. However, there are often barriers to full implementation of a TRP…

We describe an extracurricular graduate fellowship program designed to train students in community-engaged scholarship with Black and Indigenous communities. The CREATE Scholars program combines coursework, research externships, and experiential learning opportunities in order to develop graduate student competencies in codevelopment, community…

This report describes a 15-month collaboration between three Every Learner Everywhere partner organizations (Achieving the Dream, the American Association of Public and Land-grant Universities [APLU], and Digital Promise) and five colleges, all engaged in a research-practice partnership (RPP) around enhancing equity and digital learning in gateway…

This practice report outlines the application of culture change methodology to co-design a whole-of-university health and wellbeing strategy. We outline considerations that necessitate a change in the way higher education contributes to student and staff mental health and wellbeing. We provide an overview of an Appreciative Inquiry culture change…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many youth felt disconnected from on-the-ground engagement with their peers, their communities, and the wider society. School closures also impeded progress in some students' abilities to write, speak, and express themselves through various media. A team of interdisciplinary and intergenerational faculty and…

The colleges, universities, and postsecondary career-preparation institutions of Indiana, and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (CHE) value the diversity of our students, their identities, their backgrounds, and their learning experiences. They are committed to helping them succeed and recognize that their success supports educational…

Research-practice partnerships are collaborative research arrangements that seek to transform the relations among researchers, educators, and communities. There is a wide diversity in partnership forms and research methods used in them. In addition, there remain questions about the value of partnerships, given the time and resources they require…

Communities in California and around the country are implementing learning hubs to provide in-person education supports to students who are distance learning. In this brief, we explore a prevalent learning hub model and raise considerations for local policymakers, schools, and expanded learning partners. We include guidance for the design and…

As schools across the country closed in March 2020 at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was not clear how long in-person education would be disrupted. The abrupt transition to remote learning was particularly challenging for districts in rural communities, many of which have long lacked reliable access to high-speed internet and…

"Three Big Lessons in Six Years" is both a reflection on the past and a look ahead to the future at Charlestown (C-Town) High School (Boston, Massachusetts) and other early college programs across the country. The purpose of this series is to document essential design elements, operational structures, and critical support for students to…

Dual enrollment opportunities are key to increasing college access, completion, and transfer rates for students who are historically underrepresented in college. Dual enrollment partnerships between colleges and high schools or school districts can focus on a variety of academic subjects to form well-sequenced pathways that meet certificate,…

This article documents a collaborative effort between university teacher educators and an urban school district in Wisconsin to address acute teacher shortages in bilingual education. The effort took shape as a Grow-Your-Own program based on the teacher residency model. Several innovations were required in program design and implementation to…