Emily Block
Research Mentor: Anita Caduff
Mentor Department: Marsal Family School of Education/ Ed. Studies, Education
Author(s): Anita Caduff, Emily Block
Session: Session 7 (4:00 PM – 4:50 PM)
Presentation Type: Poster 98
Abstract
Policies and practices are not always informed by evidence-based insights, highlighting a gap between research and decision-making. Within the education system, there is a need for evidence-based approaches to address the digital divide in schools. This project focuses on how a research practice partnership (RPP) between researchers and policymakers can enhance state education agency (SEA) EdTech leaders’ ability to access and use evidence in policy and practice. This RPP is a formal mechanism through which relationships between researchers and SEA leaders can form, specifically for long-term collaboration between researchers and practitioners in education. Members are able to co-create a research agenda, synthesizing different contexts, perspectives, and shared expertise. In this mixed-methods study, in addition to the facilitation of an RPP, we synthesize survey data, including social network data, from SEA EdTech leaders and State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) members, some of whom were part of the RPP and others who were not. This data is complemented by in-depth interviews to gain a nuanced understanding of participants’ social networks around research access and use. These analyses begin identifying patterns in how knowledge flows through these systems and how those patterns shape evidence-informed practice. Findings will indicate the size, diversity, and structure of SEA EdTech leaders’ social networks around accessing and using research evidence. These insights may inform future strategies to make evidence-informed decision-making in state-level educational technology policy. This poster specifically focuses on the early stages of the research, presenting the preliminary findings on the social networks of SEA leaders. With the support of survey data, this project begins to explain how the social networks shape SEA leaders’ access to and use of research evidence.
