School districts as partners in research efforts

Abstract

When researchers are focused on improving teaching-and-learning domains that match the school district’s strategic plan, not only focusing on their own research agenda, they yield powerful results that can be useful for guiding processes of improving student learning.

Building Productive Relationships: District Leaders’ Advice to Researchers

“…District leaders, facing a variety of resource constraints and accountability pressures, may be wary of participating in research studies-particularly considering a history of one-sided experiences with researchers in which they receive limited feedback, support, or resources in return for supporting researchers' work (Bransford et al, 2009;DeBord, 1974;Muñoz & Rodosky, 2015;Ornstein, 1978). Developing productive relationships can require both researchers and practitioners to learn a "new way of interacting" (Coburn & Stein, 2010, p. 203;Edwards & Stamou, 2016).…”