If our goal in education research is to produce knowledge that is useful and used, we need to design impact evaluations that value understanding variation as much as understanding average impact. The context in which an intervention is implemented and the characteristics of participants are integral components of the intervention, and we need to…

Educational researchers have widely used the term "racial microaggressions" as a theoretical framework for examining everyday and subtle forms of discrimination predicated against people of color. However, there are historical and contemporary differences in how Black people experience schools and other social institutions that a racial…

Independent schools are increasingly looking to research as a strategy for building equitable systems and practices, through the creation of an embedded researcher position. This commentary grapples with how independent schools are building internal research capacity find. Using a self-study methodology with interviews, job document review, and…

For decades, important early childhood scholars who critiqued normative ideas about early childhood frameworks, guidelines, and assessments have been silenced in highly ranked child development and early childhood journals. The qualitative methods needed to prioritize the perspectives of marginalized communities (i.e., ethnography, interview and…

Background/Context: Within critical research broadly, scholars increasingly turn to stories and storytelling to pursue equity in educational contexts. Such scholarship does, however, primarily focus on the composition or creation of stories. Expanding the scope of storytelling research, this article turns to queer and trans knowledges to highlight…

Background or Context: Research-practice partnerships (RPPs) are collaborative efforts between researchers and practitioners aimed at improving educational practices through engagement in research. Previous studies have highlighted the dynamic nature of roles within RPPs, emphasizing the need for role negotiation and adaptation to local contexts.…

Context: Proposed more than two decades ago, culturally relevant/responsive teaching or pedagogy (CRP) is one promising approach to transforming the education experience of historically marginalized groups. The development of CRP has since inspired changes in teacher education programs and resulted in considerable research on preparing teachers…

The importance of educator diversity is becoming increasingly evident as research demonstrates the positive impact of Teachers of Color and Indigenous Teachers (TOCIT) on student learning and achievement, particularly among underrepresented groups (Dee, 2004; Gershenson et al., 2018; Grissom & Redding, 2016; Shirrell et al., 2021). Despite…

Context: For decades, educational leaders and researchers have faced a puzzle: Too often, promising new initiatives are adopted only to be quickly discontinued, while other longstanding practices persist despite efforts to undo them. Purpose: We provide a framework for analyzing both change and persistence that we argue can shed new light on what…

Background/Context: Research on data and evidence use suggest that productive use depends on interactive processes, including sustained interactions between educators and researchers. Recent research on research-practice partnerships (RPPs) has examined conditions under which these sustained collaborations support evidence use. Findings from these…

Background/Context: Historical studies of this volatile period in educational history (1960-2003 tend to focus on educational policy and/or curriculum, but rarely address changes in learning theory. Numerous historical studies have traced how psychologists, psychometricians, policymakers, and social scientists have dismissed the intellectual…

Background/Context: High quality early education, preschool through third grade, has received significant attention as a vehicle for addressing academic disparities. Research-practice partnerships (RPPs) offer a promising strategy for improving early education and closing the gap between research and practice; however, RPPs in the early learning…

Background/Context: The passage of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 and the Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015 spurred changes in the way educators use data. On the one hand, the policies inspired educators' awareness of large gaps in achievement between subgroups based on gender, race, and socioeconomic status. On the other hand, the policies…

Background/Context: Despite advances in the learning sciences, a persistent gap remains between research and practice. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: In this project, we develop and try out a new approach to education research and development in which researchers, designers/developers, and instructors collaborate to…

As the largest international student group in U.S. higher education, Chinese international students have been made particularly vulnerable due to the resurgence of anti-Asian racism and U.S.-China geopolitical tensions. There is therefore a pressing need to make sense of Chinese international students' perspectives and experiences around U.S.…