Building the Infrastructure to Improve the Use and Usefulness of Research in Education

Abstract

Over the past decade, federal and state education policy has placed an increased emphasis on using research in decision-making. Tseng and Nutley synthesize themes from the earlier chapters, focusing on the ways research evidence is used and efforts to promote research uptake. A key challenge is that researchers, policymakers, and practitioners work in separate spheres with differing incentives, goals, language, demands, and time frames. To improve the use and usefulness of research, a stronger infrastructure is needed to connect research with policy and practice. If we are committed to using research to enrich problem framing, decision-making, and individual and organization learning in education, the next decade should focus on building trust, capacity, strong relationships, the conditions for productive evidence integration, and learning from efforts in other countries.