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Background: Brokers, intermediaries, and boundary spanners (BIBS) bridge research and policy or practice, and can elevate the role of evidence in decision making. However, there is limited integration of the literature across different sectors to understand the strategies that BIBS use, the skills needed to carry out these strategies, and the expected outcomes of these strategies. Aims and objectives: In this review, we characterise the strategies, skills, and outcomes of BIBS across the literature in education, environmental, health and other relevant sectors. Methods: We included 185 conceptual and review papers written in English that included descriptions or conceptualisations of BIBS in the context of knowledge transfer or research use in the education, environmental, health, or other relevant sectors (for example, social services, international development). For each included paper, we extracted and coded information on sector, BIBS strategies, skills, and outcomes. Findings: Our review revealed five strategies used by BIBS that were emphasised in the literature. Specifically, 79.5% of papers mentioned facilitating relationships, 75.7% mentioned disseminating evidence, 56.8% mentioned finding alignment, 48.6% mentioned capacity building, and 37.3% mentioned advising decisions as strategies used by BIBS. Additionally, papers described skills and expected outcomes that were common across these strategies as well as those that were unique to specific strategies. Discussion and conclusions: We discuss implications of these findings for understanding how BIBS interface with knowledge users and producers as well as directions for future research on BIBS and the professionalisation of BIBS roles.

Understanding educators' networks can inform the field of school psychology by offering insight into how the structure of social relationships supports the implementation of school-based programs. However, the difficulties of collecting and modeling network data remain barriers to using network methods in school psychology. To overcome these barriers, we provide a step-by-step tutorial for collecting, modeling, and visualizing network data from educators. We draw on an example from a study designed to understand advice networks among middle and high school educators involved in implementing a system-level intervention to prevent school dropout.

Background: A growing literature focuses on the roles of brokers, intermediaries, and boundary spanners (BIBS) in addressing the challenges of transferring research evidence between the research and practice or policy communities. Aims and objectives: In this systematic review, we examined two research questions: (1) where, how, and when are different BIBS terms (broker, intermediary, and boundary spanner) used? and (2) which BIBS terms get defined, and when these terms are defined, who are BIBS and what do they do? Methods: We conducted literature searches designed to capture articles on BIBS and the transfer of research evidence. We extracted information about eligible articles' characteristics, use of BIBS terms, and definitions of BIBS terms. Findings: The search revealed an initial pool of 667 results, of which 277 articles were included after screening. Although we coded 430 separate uses of BIBS terms, only 37.2% of these uses provided explicit definitions. The terms, 'broker' and 'brokerage', were commonly applied in the health sector to describe a person engaged in multiple functions. The term, 'intermediary', was commonly applied in the education sector to describe an organisation engaged in dissemination. Finally, the terms 'boundary spanner' and 'boundary spanning' were commonly applied in the environment sector to describe people or organisations that engage in relationship building. Discussion and conclusions: Results demonstrated that when BIBS were defined, there were important (albeit implicit) distinctions between terms. Based on these results, we identify archetypal definitions for brokers, intermediaries, and boundary spanners and offer recommendations for future research.

Principals' efforts to support the implementation of interventions involve coordination among multiple actors in their social networks. However, less is known about how distinct features of these social networks are associated with principals' perceptions of the social validity of interventions. In this paper, we used Neal and Neal (Implement Sci 14:16, 2019. 10.1186/s13012-019-0860-z) implementation capital framework to test hypotheses about the associations between two features of principals' social networks (i.e., bonding and bridging social capital) and three aspects of social validity (i.e., acceptability, understanding, and feasibility). Specifically, we tested these hypotheses in a statewide representative sample of 180 Michigan secondary school principals supporting the implementation of early warning signs (EWS), a systems-level intervention to prevent student dropout. Consistent with our hypotheses, we found that bonding social capital was positively associated with acceptability and bridging social capital was positively associated with understanding. But, contrary to our hypotheses, bonding and bridging social capital were not associated with feasibility. Drawing on these findings, we discuss future directions for research and practice implications to improve principals' perceptions of the social validity of mental health interventions.

School psychologists have training and expertise in consultation and evidence-based interventions that position them well to support early career teachers (ECTs). The current study involved iterative development and pilot testing of an intervention to help ECTs become more effective in classroom management and engaging learners, as well as more connected to colleagues. The intervention included group seminars, professional learning communities, and coaching. The sample included 15 ECTs and 57 school personnel in three high-poverty, urban schools. Feasibility and initial promise of the intervention were examined using a mixed-method design, which yielded promising trends in ECTs' effectiveness and connectedness. ECTs described facilitators to effectiveness and connectedness associated with the intervention and barriers associated with the structural realities of schools and gaps in their training. ECTs described effectiveness as neither static nor global and perceived meaningful progress, leveraging individual relationships and group formats to receive instrumental and emotional support.

Background: This study draws on two communities theory to address two major research questions related to conceptions of research in educational practice and policy. First, how do educators conceptualise research? Second, to what extent do educators' conceptions of research align with recent US federal educational policies? Methods: We conducted 90 semi-structured interviews with educators in the US, asking them what comes to mind when they think of research. We used open, axial, and selective coding to characterise educators' conceptions of research. We also compared educators' conceptions of research to two US federal educational policies that define scientifically-based research and evidence-based interventions. Findings: Findings indicate that educators and policies defined research in similar ways, but each included some unique characteristics. Discussion and conclusions: Implications from the study include the need for increased communication between federal policymakers and educators and improved reporting by researchers to better attend to the needs of educators and policymakers.

Educational researchers regularly collect survey data from educators, but struggle to encourage survey completion in this busy population, particularly when surveys are web-based. In this study we experimentally investigated the usefulness of follow-up phone calls and increased monetary incentives to non-respondents as strategies to boost response rates. We randomly assigned 540 hard-to-reach Michigan secondary school principals to one of four conditions (control, call, incentive, or call and incentive). We find that follow-up calls more than double the likelihood of survey completion, while the offer of a larger monetary incentive has no statistically significant effect. Integrating this finding with recent literature on survey response rates in educational settings, we conclude with a series of recommendations for researchers surveying principals and other school administrators.

Despite growing interest in data visualization and graphically aided reporting, the evaluation literature could benefit from additional guidance on systematically integrating visual communication design and marketing into comprehensive communication strategies to improve data dissemination. This article describes the role of targeted communication strategies--based on visual communications, design, and marketing theory--in producing more effective reports. In evaluation practice, well-synthesized and translated reports often require the integration of data from multiple sources, methods, and/or time points to communicate complex findings in ways that elicit productive responses. Visual communication strategies, such as project branding or designing actionable tools with marketing principles in mind, can be applied to optimize effective reporting of complex evaluation findings. This article references a longitudinal, mixed-method evaluation of public school administrators in Michigan to illustrate the application of a systematic communication design framework to produce several graphically aided project materials and subsequent findings reports.

Purpose: We apply diffusion of innovations theory to examine two key research questions designed to inform efforts to improve the research--practice gap in education: (1) Are there distinct types of educators that differ in their prioritization of the compatibility, observability, complexity, relative advantage, and trialability of research? and (2) Are educators' roles or context associated with their categorization in this typology? Research Method: Using semistructured interview data in two Michigan counties from intermediate school district staff (N = 24), district central office staff (N = 18), principals (N = 22), and school building staff (N = 23), we first used directed content analysis to code for mentions of compatibility, observability, complexity, relative advantage, and trialability. Next, using the coded data, we conducted a hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis and follow-up cross-tabulations to assess whether cluster memberships were associated with educators' roles or county context. Findings: Educators in our sample could be categorized in one of five clusters distinguished primarily by different patterns of prioritization of the compatibility, observability, and complexity of research. Membership in these clusters did not vary by role but did vary by county, suggesting the importance of context for educators' perceptions of research. Implications for Research and Practice: These findings suggest that narrowing the research-practice gap in education will require attending to multiple audiences of educators with distinct priorities that guide their perceptions and use of educational research and evidence-based practices.

We propose transaction cost economics theory as a tool for exploring when school administrators rely on information from two types of sources: internal sources like their own colleagues, and external sources like researchers and government agencies. The theory's application is illustrated in a comparative case study of two public school districts in Michigan. Consistent with the theory's predictions, the smaller, homogeneous, high-performing district used more external sources of information, while the larger, diverse, low-performing district used internal sources of information. We conclude by identifying some strengths and limitations of the theory, which can serve as starting points for debate.

The population of adults who neither have nor want children is large and growing. However, it remains poorly understood because its members can be difficult to identify in traditional demographic surveys, and existing research on the population uses a range of methods and terms. In this paper, we review current practices, then to bring a level of consistency and comparability to this literature, we propose a common framework for studying this population. First, we recommend that researchers use the term "childfree" to describe adults who neither have nor want children, because the term is short, widely used, and preferred by members of this population. Second, we recommend that researchers define childfree adults by neither having nor wanting biological or nonbiological children, recognizing that one's childfree status may change over time. Third, we recommend that researchers identify childfree adults in surveys using "want" questions (e.g., do you want children?), in combination with other questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The overall goal of this work is to produce a set of recommendations (SoNHR–Social Networks in Health Research) that will improve the reporting and dissemination of social network concepts, methods, data, and analytic results within health sciences research. Methods: This study used a modified-Delphi approach for recommendation development consistent with best practices suggested by the EQUATOR health sciences reporting guidelines network. An initial set of 28 reporting recommendations was developed by the author team. A group of 67 (of 147 surveyed) experienced network and health scientists participated in an online feedback survey. They rated the clarity and importance of the individual recommendations, and provided qualitative feedback on the coverage, usability, and dissemination opportunities of the full set of recommendations. After examining the feedback, a final set of 18 recommendations was produced. Results: The final SoNHR reporting guidelines are comprised of 18 recommendations organized within five domains: conceptualization (how study research questions are linked to network conceptions or theories), operationalization (how network science portions of the study are defined and operationalized), data collection & management (how network data are collected and managed), analyses & results (how network results are analyzed, visualized, and reported), and ethics & equity (how network-specific human subjects, equity, and social justice concerns are reported). We also present a set of exemplar published network studies which can be helpful for seeing how to apply the SoNHR recommendations in research papers. Finally, we discuss how different audiences can use these reporting guidelines. Conclusions: These are the first set of formal reporting recommendations of network methods in the health sciences. Consistent with EQUATOR goals, these network reporting recommendations may in time improve the quality, consistency, and replicability of network science across a wide variety of important health research areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qualitative data offer advantages to evaluators, including rich information about stakeholders' perspectives and experiences. However, qualitative data analysis is labor-intensive and slow, conflicting with evaluators' needs to provide punctual feedback to their clients. In this method note, we contribute to the literature on rapid evaluation and assessment methods by proposing procedures that evaluators can use to expedite the coding and analysis of qualitative data and comparing these procedures to other possible methods. Specifically, we outline procedures for the rapid identification of themes from audio recordings, which allow evaluators to code and analyze qualitative data without time-consuming transcription. We illustrate the use and assess the reliability of these procedures using qualitative semi-structured interview data from 18 public school administrators on how they locate information about and decide to use instructional, health, and social skills programming in their districts. Finally, we end with advantages and trade-offs of these procedures as well as recommendations for how to apply them.

The present study uses social network analyses to examine the associations between children's prosocial behaviour and classroom affiliative relationships (i.e., hanging out relationships). Our sample includes data from 257 children and their teachers in 12 s through fourth‐grade classrooms living in high‐poverty, inner‐urban city neighbourhoods (98.4% African American). We estimated a series of exponential random graph models (ERGMs) for the 12 classrooms and then meta‐analysed the ERGM results using a multi‐level meta‐analysis technique to examine the effects of prosocial behaviour and homophily of prosocial behaviour on children's affiliative relationships across classrooms. Our results revealed a significant effect of prosocial behaviour, suggesting that children with higher levels of prosocial behaviour were more likely to have more affiliative relationships. We also saw a significant effect of homophily of prosocial behaviour, suggesting that the more similar the children were in terms of prosocial behaviour, the more likely they were to have an affiliative relationship. Our findings highlight the importance of prosocial behaviour in children's affiliative relationships and have implications for fostering children's affiliative relationships and improving their well‐being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]