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The puzzle of how to connect research with policy and practice is a vital area for scientific inquiry. The William T. Grant Foundation believes that attempts to improve the use of research evidence in policy and practice should be subject to rigorous theory building and empirical analysis. The stakes are high for the research community: If we do not understand what it takes for research to be used, then research will always stay on the proverbial shelf (or website)--far from the action of policy deliberations and decision-making. In this essay, the author reflects on the Foundation's initiative on the use of research evidence: the progress made by grantees and others in the field and the challenges that remain in building a rigorous field of study that spans the globe. The essay ends with reflections for the future, drawing inspiration from collaboration with the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Transforming Evidence Funders Network, a collective of public and private funders working to make research more useful, used, and impactful in meeting today's global challenges--from education to the environment, and from foreign policy to global health.

Many of the researchers in research-practice partnerships (RPPs) are drawn to them because of frustrations that their work--while esteemed by academic colleagues--too infrequently influences education policies or practices. Many district partners in RPPs also have backgrounds as researchers, and they too want to see research address stubborn teaching and learning challenges. District leaders, administrators, and other partners are often frustrated that research is not adequately relevant to their contexts, or is not timely or accessible enough to meet their needs. Put simply, researchers want to do more impactful research, and agency staff want more useful research that can inform their work to improve student outcomes. for all the focus on producing more useful research, too little attention has focused on supporting the use of research. Creating and communicating research that is more relevant, timely, and actionable is necessary but not sufficient to foster an education system that is able to learn from and incorporate research findings into policy changes, professional development, curricula, and teaching and learning. RPPs and RPP funders are positioned to move education into the next frontier, but to do so they will need to complement their attention to evidence production with an equally robust focus on evidence use. In this essay, Vivian Tseng argues that one way forward is for RPPs to articulate theories of action for research use, empirically test them, and then iteratively improve their work and refine their theories.

People have long bemoaned the silos of research and practice. Researchers express frustration that practitioners do not use or misuse research. Practitioners respond that research is not relevant to their work, or is not easily accessible or understood. Research-Practice Partnerships (RPPs) across the country are seeking to undo these patterns. Many partnerships involve agencies working in long term collaboration with external researchers. Others are partnerships between research and program offices within government agencies. In this paper, we discuss how partnerships challenge researchers and practitioners to work together in new ways in order to improve education and human services, and ultimately to enhance child and youth outcomes. Discussion covers various types of partnerships, strategies and conditions for success, and exemplar models. [For the brief, "Research-Practice Partnerships: Building Engagement to Benefit Children and Youth. Sharing Child and Youth Development Knowledge. Social Policy Report Brief. Volume 30, Number 4," see ED581641.]

As immigration has reached historic numbers in the United States, immigrant children have become an integral part of the national tapestry. While immigration has grown across all post-industrial nations, inequality has risen at a steep rate on a variety of indicators, including income distribution, child poverty, residential segregation, and numerous academic outcomes. Among the children of immigrants, inequality is manifested against a backdrop of wide disparity in post-migration conditions faced by new immigrants. While many immigrant-origin youth successfully acclimate to their new land, faring as well as or even better than their native same-ethnicity peers, others face significant challenges in their educational and psychosocial adaptation. Most at risk are youth at the intersection of multiple types of disadvantage, namely low parent education and employment, poverty, newcomer status, language barriers, racialization, and undocumented status. This paper reviews what current research tells us about how inequality of opportunities and outcomes plays out along these six dimensions for immigrant-origin children and youth. The paper focuses on two proximal contexts of development that are key to alleviating unequal opportunities and outcomes: education and family. The authors recommend areas of future research that may inform policies, programs, and practices to reduce inequality for immigrant-origin children and youth.