The Foundation’s focus on improving the use of research evidence aims to identify and test strategies to ensure that research reaches the hands of decision makers, answers their most pressing questions, and is used in ways that benefit youth. These resources highlight directions for research in this area.
Recently Added Resources
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From Big Data to Useful Research Evidence: Forging a Path Toward Better Youth Outcomes
What steps can we take to ensure that access to big data leads to the production of high-quality, useful research evidence? And what else do we need to know to ensure that this evidence is ultimately used by decision makers in ways that benefit youth?
Reducing InequalityDirections for Research: Reducing Inequality -
Leveraging Knowledge: Taking Stock of the William T. Grant Foundation’s Use of Research Evidence Grants Portfolio
In 2009, we launched an initiative to study research use in the worlds of policy and practice. Staff assumed that knowing more about the potential users of research would improve the production and use of research, which we defined as empirical evidence derived from systematic methods and analyses. Findings are now accumulating. This essay takes stock of what we are learning about the acquisition, interpretation, and use of research evidence, and briefly describes our call for proposals, cross-cutting themes, and key unanswered questions.
Use of Research EvidenceDirections for Research: the Use of Research Evidence -
Use of Research Evidence: Social Services Portfolio
Susan Maciolek synthesizes findings from Foundation-supported studies on the use of research evidence in domains including child welfare, child mental health, and justice. Maciolek, a former William T. Grant Foundation Distinguished Fellow, discusses the perspectives of policymakers and practitioners and what they might want to know as they consider using research evidence. She also provides insights that may enable researchers to contribute to a knowledge base that is more relevant and, ultimately, more useful in the realm of social services.
Use of Research EvidenceChild Mental Health -
Building the Infrastructure to Improve the Use and Usefulness of Research in Education
Vivian Tseng and Sandra Nutley point the way forward for education researchers and policymakers, summarizing the key points made throughout Using Research Evidence in Education and concluding: “Research is not the next silver bullet for education reform, and simply mandating its use will not get us to our ultimate goals of better teaching and learning. … If we are committed to using research to enrich problem framing, decision making, and individual and organization learning in education, the next decade should focus on building trust, capacity, strong relationships, and the conditions for productive evidence integration.”
Use of Research EvidenceDirections for Research: the Use of Research Evidence
Categories
- Reducing Inequality (14)
- Research Methods (16)
- Use of Research Evidence (27)
- Youth Social Settings (9)
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- After-school Programs (4)
- Analyzing Multilevel Trials (3)
- Child Mental Health (3)
- Child Welfare (5)
- Directions for Research: Reducing Inequality (10)
- Directions for Research: the Use of Research Evidence (4)
- Education (20)
- Evidence-Based Policy (9)
- Group Randomized Trials (10)
- Higher Education (1)
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- Justice System (1)
- Research-Practice Partnerships (8)
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