To effectively address challenges that our nation’s children face in education — including racism and bias — federal and state decision-makers must have access to current research to understand root causes and promising practices.

For this project, researchers with the Research-to-Policy Collaboration brokered connections between researchers and policymakers to discuss racial equity within education.

Project Goals

1. To create a network of education researchers (a “Rapid Response Network”) who are on call to discuss educational equity with policymakers;
2. Conduct needs assessments with policymakers working on education to determine their goals and needs for current research; and
3. Disseminate research to at least 15  federal and state policymakers who identified an immediate need for current research on education or educational equity.

Research Goals

1. To study how education researchers make meaning of their experiences participating in Research-to-Policy Collaboration training and its role in sustaining their work to inform policy;
2. examine the extent to which the Research-to-Policy Collaboration facilitates researcher-policymaker engagement related to equity in K-12 education; and
3. explore the effectiveness of a research communication strategy that involves disseminating education research fact sheets and briefs to federal and state legislative staff.

Project Outcomes

The Research-to-Policy Collaboration developed a Rapid Response Network with more than 200 researchers from across the U.S. who study education-related issues, 122 of whom study educational equity. They also conducted needs assessments with the offices of 126 policymakers, 74 of which were poised for action on education via their membership or leadership on relevant committees and caucuses.

After they assessed the policymakers’ needs for science-based information on education and educational equity, researchers in the newly created Rapid Response Network accomplished the following:

• Supplied 33 policy memos and 9 fact sheets to various policymakers;
• Held 2 panel discussions with hundreds of federal and state policymakers attending; and
• Met with the offices of 24 policymakers, most affiliated with education-related committees, to discuss officials’ education-related questions.

See the news story: Making a difference for school children; Evidence-to-Impact Collaborative  connects policymakers with researchers to improve educational equity