Methodologies for Fostering Statewide Equity for Multilingual Learners Through Research-Policy Partnerships

• In Event: Research-Practice Partnerships for Educational Transformation

Abstract

Purpose: In light of recent policy and demographic changes, state education agencies (SEAs) play critical roles in ensuring civil rights law is upheld for multilingual learners. Despite SEA leaders’ influential work shaping policy and practice (Brown et al., 2011), few studies explore partnerships between researchers and state leaders. Research-practice partnerships (RPPs) are characterized by long-term mutualistic collaboration between researchers and practitioners, and represent a promising strategy for addressing timely educational equity issues (Coburn et al., 2013). Expanding prior literature on RPPs that tends to focus on improving local-level practice, this study examines the following question: what methodologies supported collaboration between researchers and state leaders focused on implementing federal civil rights policy?

Theoretical framework: To examine research-policy partnership work with SEA leaders, we draw on the conceptualization of RPPs as “joint work at boundaries” (Penuel et al., 2015). Joint work occurs as researchers and practitioners co-construct goals for improvement, which requires ongoing negotiation of the boundaries separating their roles. To examine aspects of this joint work between researchers and state leaders, we identified how RPP members fostered collaboration across research-policy boundaries (boundary crossing), examined engagement in joint work (boundary practices), and explored the use of shared tools (boundary objects).

Method: Our examination of RPP work with state leaders is undergirded by a qualitative research design. The study examines an RPP comprised of 11 SEA leaders from across the country, five university-based researchers, and two staff members from the Council for Chief State School Officers. Between May 2020-June 2021, the work of the RPP centered on the co-design of resources outlining evidence-based strategies for supporting multilingual learner students and families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data Sources: This study draws on data from 33 interviews and 25 hours of meeting observations. Each state leader participated in three interviews, which included questions about their roles and responsibilities in implementing federal civil rights and their related experiences in the RPP. We also collected observational data during bi-weekly RPP meetings, taking note of leaders’ feedback about the development of resources as well as evolving RPP dynamics.

Findings: Findings reveal how routines (boundary practices) supported collaboration in the RPP, including ongoing facilitated conversations around co-designed resources (boundary objects) that were directly applicable to state leaders’ work. Effective collaboration also required recognizing leaders’ experiences as valuable forms of evidence to inform the development of shared resources. Further, RPP conversations (boundary practices) and resources (boundary objects) were tailored to reflect SEA leaders’ dual roles advocating for multilingual learners across schools and districts as well as within state departments of education.

Significance: While much literature on RPPs focuses at the district or school level, this study highlights effective strategies for fostering collaboration with state-level leaders. Findings demonstrate the importance of tailoring RPP routines and tools to align with SEA leaders’ multifaceted responsibilities. Given their influential positions in policy implementation, additional research is needed to examine partnership work with SEA leaders as a pathway for fostering equitable education systems.

Authors

• Hayley Ryan Weddle, University of Pittsburgh

• Megan Hopkins, WestEd