Research and Practice in Education

Building Alliances, Bridging the Divide

By (author) Cynthia E. Coburn, Mary Kay Stein Contributions by Juliet Baxter, Laura D'Amico, Amanda Datnow Chancellors Associates Endowed Chair of Education Studies and associate de, Randi Engle, Meredith Honig, Gina Ikemoto, Catherine Lewis, Vicki Park, Rebecca Perry, Lisa Rosen, Laura Stokes

Publication date:

16 April 2010

Length of book:

256 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Dimensions:

238x163mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780742564060

That there is a divide between research and practice is a common lament across policy-oriented disciplines, and education is no exception. Rhetoric abounds about the role research plays (or does not play) in the improvement of schools and classrooms, and policy makers push solutions that are rooted in assumptions about the way that research should influence practice. Yet few people have studied the relationship between research and practice empirically. This book presents findings from a series of interlocking case studies of nationally visible R&D projects, with a unique focus on how researchers and practitioners actually worked together, and the policy, social, and institutional processes that either enabled or hindered their work. The book investigates the dynamics of cross-institutional collaboration and the relationship between tool design, teacher learning, and the implementation of research-based approaches. It also explores conditions for learning in schools and the role of evidence in district decision making. By investigating the roles played by research and practice in these ten educational improvement efforts, the book illuminates lessons for those who seek to do this kind of work in the future. It concludes by suggesting implications for designers, funders, school and district leaders, and universities.

1 Foreword
2 1. Reframing the Problem of Research and Practice
3 Part I: Fostering Partnerships for Educational Innovation
4 2. The Middle School Mathematics through Applications Project: Supporting Productive Collaborations During Two Different Phases of Curriculum Design
5 3. The Center for Learning Technologies in Urban Schools: Evolving Relationships in Design-based Research
6 4. Examining a Novel Partnership for Educational Innnovation: Promises and Complexities of Cross-institutional Collaboration
7 Part II: Role of Tools in the Relationship Between Research and Practice
8 5. Success for All: Using Tools to Transport Research-based Practices to the Classroom
9 6. Tools to Deepen Practitioner's Engagement with Research: The Case of the Institute for Learning
10 7. QUASAR: The Evolution of Tools to Support Educational Improvement
11 Part III: Developing Conditions to Foster Knowledge Development in Schools
12 8. Building Demand for Research through Lesson Study
13 9. The National Writing Project: Anatomy of an Improvement Infrastructure
14 Part IV: Research and Decision Making in School Districts
15 10. The Partnership for District Change: Challeneges of Evidence Use in a Major Urban District
16 11. Research-to-Practice: A Case Study of Boston Public Schools, Boston Plan for Excellence and Education Matters
17 12. Key Lessons About the Relationship between Research and Practice
18 Appendix A: Research Methodology
19 References
20 Contributors

For all the rhetoric of linking research to practice, Coburn and Stein et al help us understand clearly how research and practice can come together to improve education in the United States. This book will set the agenda for future collaborations between researchers and practitioners committed to education reform and improvement.