When well executed, research-practice partnerships can be powerful mechanisms for producing relevant and useful knowledge and facilitating its integration into policy and practice to improve youth outcomes. But without taking intentional steps to avoid common hurdles, it’s likely that many partnerships will fail to fulfill this potential.
In Five Ways RPPs Can Fail and How to Avoid Them: Applying Conceptual Frameworks to Improve RPPs, Laura Booker, Carrie Conaway, and Nate Schwartz, three state education agency leaders experienced in navigating the challenging world of research-practice partnerships, offer examples of potential obstacles facing RPPs and provide practical strategies for overcoming them: “Certainly, the requirements of RPPs—building relationships, shifting incentives, and stretching skills—are demanding. But the work required to meet these demands also means that the research we produce through our RPPs stands the greatest chance of changing our agencies’ policies and practices, and ultimately of improving outcomes for students.”
