The Case for the Practice Brief in Community College Studies: Writing to Bridge Research and Practice

Abstract

Among higher education scholars and observers, there is a perennial call for greater efforts to bridge research and practice. Yet the chasm between them is a similarly enduring characteristic of the field of education studies. In this paper, we advocate for the use of the practice brief as an overlooked and grossly underutilized genre of scholarly writing in the field of higher education—in particular the field of community college studies—as one way to more intentionally address the research-practice gap. Crafted, as it so happens, as a practice brief, this paper posits a working definition, provides an overview of the genre in relation to other types of scholarly papers and other fields of study, and enumerates key characteristics of practice briefs to guide authors and peer reviewers. We discuss how practice briefs can be situated within a largely missing form of educational praxis and scholarship such as evidence-based practice (EBP). Lastly, we call on the higher education research community to include this genre in very specific terms within calls for journal submissions, in graduate programs, and in collaboration with practitioner partners.