Sustaining a Research-Practice Partnership with State Leaders

• In Event: Making the Invisible Visible: Dynamics, Processes, and Outcomes of Research-Practice Partnerships

Abstract

A growing body of scholarship outlines the value of research-practice partnerships (RPPs) as venues for disrupting inequities across education systems (Arce-Trigatti et al., 2024; Farrell et al., 2021). While promising, RPP work is also complex as partners navigate distinct goals, organizational turnover, and limited time for joint work (Farrell et al., 2019; Denner et al., 2019; Cohen-Vogel et al., 2018). To support the field with navigating such complexities, we examine approaches for sustaining RPP collaboration over time with state-level education leaders. This study is situated in a national RPP that brings together researchers and 28 leaders across 26 state education agencies focused on improving multilingual learner (ML) policy and practice. To make visible how this partnership has been sustained over time, we draw on the conceptualization of RPPs as “joint work at boundaries” (Penuel et al., 2015). Within this conceptualization, the process and outcomes of RPPs unfold over time through interactions supported by boundary practices and boundary objects that facilitate ongoing collaboration between researchers and practitioners. To support our investigation, we use qualitative case study methods to examine RPP engagement as it unfolds in context over time. Data include 130 interviews with 28 state leaders and researchers as well as 85 hours of RPP meeting observation collected over five years. Analysis began with thematic coding aligned with grounding literature (Miles et. al, 2019), followed by analytic memoing. Emerging themes were shared during partnership meetings for feedback, which helped to refine the final assertions​​. Findings shed light on how responsive facilitation was operationalized over time as the group navigated significant shifts. First, the RPP more than tripled in size over the five years studied, necessitating routines for maintaining a shared vision and ensuring that all members could contribute equitably to joint work. The RPP also responded to membership growth by focusing on the development of tailorable resources for a range of state contexts. Over time, the partnership also experienced political shifts that impacted ML education, including reduced staff and capacity at the US Department of Education, increased immigration enforcement, and pushback against diversity, equity, and inclusion at both the federal and state levels. In response to these shifts, the partnership amended previous boundary practices to create more space for sense-making about politics and strategizing to protect ML programs and supports. The RPP also adjusted its norms regarding confidentiality and communication, which helped promote high engagement. This study provides novel insights into how RPPs can be facilitated to support state leaders’ politically complex work over time. Findings reveal facilitation strategies to navigate complexities such as changes in membership and disruptions in the broader policy context. Such knowledge may inform how future partnerships are facilitated to sustain equity-focused change efforts, as well as how researchers develop the capacity to engage in long-term collaborative work.

Authors

• Hayley Ryan Weddle, University of Pittsburgh

• Megan Hopkins, University of California - San Diego