Reconceiving relationships between universities, schools, and community organizations through research-practice partnerships, and building capacity for partnership work, necessarily entails rethinking the mentorship of graduate students. In this article, we describe our findings on what mentorship looks like in a now 9-year RPP focusing on…

Gaps exist between research and practice, with some researchers expressing frustration that practitioners do not use or misuse research findings, and some practitioners saying research is not relevant to their work or not easily accessible or understood. In research-practice partnerships, which have proliferated recently, researchers and…

People have long bemoaned the silos of research and practice. Researchers express frustration that practitioners do not use or misuse research. Practitioners respond that research is not relevant to their work, or is not easily accessible or understood. Research-Practice Partnerships (RPPs) across the country are seeking to undo these patterns.…

Research shows that adolescent participation in organized out-of-school time (OST) programs (e.g., after-school programs) is linked to positive developmental outcomes. However, whether OST program practitioners use this research to inform their decision making is unclear. Therefore, a science-to-practice gap may exist in OST programs. To assess…

The Volunteer UCF Community Connectors and Community Builders Program provides a connection between students and their community. The goal is to develop meaningful service opportunities for UCF students that contribute measurable results and systemic change through capacity building among adult learners. The ongoing, sustainable service experience…

The Information Age Publishing new book series, Current Issues in Out-of-School Time, is designed with a purpose to disseminate original research and promising practices that further the Out-of-School Time (OST) field. This first book sets the foundation on which the series rests upon, by offering an analysis of the progress made since the 2000s,…

This article describes a critical service-learning project that resulted from an educational partnership among a national teachers' union, a local teachers' union, and a major research university. The partnership-funded by a grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service, Learn and Serve program--focused on professional development…

Social work educators often teach students clinical knowledge within a university classroom, whereas students tend to learn clinical practice through their practicum experiences. This article describes data from a cross-sectional, mixed-method study on one way to effectively bridge the gap between teaching clinical knowledge and practice to…

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…

This article argues that teaching health campaigns from an engaged pedagogy perspective is beneficial for students, instructors, and communities. This argument is supported by a teaching and learning perspective using a motorcycle safety campaign as an exemplar. Retrospective interviews were conducted with students who participated in a…

Building on J. Dewey's (1907) original work with the laboratory school, the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Texas-Arlington is expanding the original concept to include partners throughout a school system and the community in order to support and advance learning in multiple learning environments. The goal is to…

In this paper we describe an evaluation training program sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and led by Duquesne University and OMG Center for Collaborative Learning designed to meet the challenge of developing a cadre of diverse evaluation professionals, specifically those from traditionally underrepresented or underserved…

Service-learning has become a popular method for connecting the theory taught in undergraduate methods courses with real-world practice in the field while also promoting volunteerism. It exposes undergraduates to relevant learning experiences and provides them with an opportunity to apply their skills in the service of others who are in need. One…

This article describes the initiation of a statewide public-private partnership to expand and enhance services for infants, toddlers, and their families. It presents information regarding the initiation and implementation of the project; the program requirements, including those for professional development; and the design of a three-phase program…

This article applies theories of giving from philanthropic studies to enhance understanding of service-learning relationships between students and community partners. Focusing on the participation motivations, outcome expectations, and satisfaction levels of community partners who have recently completed work with service-learning students, the…