Research as a Catalyst for RPPs: Considerations for Practice

Research-practice partnerships (RPPs) can increase access to research evidence and inform investments in policy and practice. Over the years, interest in RPPs has become more widely prioritized within academic and community-based settings. As partnerships continue to evolve in the field, we are met with the realization that RPPs are neither linear nor formulaic. 

IHDSC faculty affiliates Drs. Hua-Yu Sebastian Cherng and Luis A. Rodriguez with Dr. Peter F. Halpin from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill recently published, Teaching Bias? Relations between Teaching Quality and Classroom Demographic Composition, investigating disparities in the allocation of high-quality teachers in U.S. public school classrooms. They found that teachers demonstrated lower effectiveness scores when they instructed classrooms with more Black students, as well as Latinx students but to a lesser extent. Teachers across all racial/ethnic groups demonstrated the same patterns in teaching that disadvantage students of color. Their findings suggest variation in classroom teaching effectiveness comes from within-teacher practices and is associated with the demographic makeup of students in the classroom. The authors bring attention to deeply rooted racial inequities that continue to penetrate the educational system. They offer several considerations for practice including the need to integrate discussions about racial and cultural awareness in teacher training programs to better equip practitioners working with students from diverse backgrounds. 

This work represents a different approach to RPPs. This research was not developed with a community-based partner or within a learning community, however its findings and the urgent need to respond to the issues raised by the empirical data pose interesting considerations for the initiation of one. First, the authors utilized a large data set for their analysis, raising questions about their findings’ applicability to a specific district or community context. RPPs can leverage nationally representative findings—conceivably highly generalizable findings—and strategize how to apply them to their policy and practice. In fact, it may be advantageous for RPPs to replicate such studies and their methodology to evaluate their specific community context. Second, empirical research and its findings can be the catalyst needed to begin to strategize cultural and technical changes to practice. This research surfaced wide spread inequities for students of color in classrooms and their harmful consequences. A collaborative response between practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and other key stakeholders can be the first step to transformative change. Since the publication’s release in February 2022, the authors have engaged in conversation with a collective of faculty involved with teacher training programs at NYU to discuss the paper’s findings and their alignment with ongoing reform efforts to address the absence of racial and ethnic diversity in the existing coaching and training framework.