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Example of indicators and dimensions that overlap.
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While scholars develop research with clear implications for policy and practice, this work has been largely ineffective in influencing thought beyond the academy. In this article, we explore challenges researchers face in designing public scholarship to influence policy. To illustrate, we profile one such effort, the “Opportunity to Learn Index,” a...
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... though the OTLi is not a regression model and is best understood as a heuristic device, the index is complicated by the fact that the addition of some dimensions effectively "double-count" overlapping elements of opportunity gaps. Consider the overlapping components of child health (partially illustrated in Figure 1). The basic research convincingly suggests that child health has a strong effect on student learning. ...
Context 2
... related flaw in combining measures is that our dimensions surely overlap with each other. Even though the OTLi is not a regression model and is best understood as a heuristic device, the index is complicated by the fact that the addition of some dimensions effectively "double-count" overlapping elements of opportunity gaps. Consider the overlapping components of child health (partially illustrated in Figure 1). The basic research convincingly suggests that child health has a strong effect on student learning. But within this dimension we included a measure for the availability of health insurance, which surely overlaps with another measure, mental health, since health insurance often supports access to mental health services. Similarly, within the separate dimension of early childhood education, there are measures of health that include screenings and referrals for vision and hearing along with the provision of at least one meal per day. A third dimension, school-resources, is concerned primarily with adequacy and inequality in school finance. But it is certainly associated with measures of schools' ability to provide health services and nutrition. Furthermore, the social class inequality dimension has measures of income and wealth that are important, in part, because they are associated with multiple facets of child health. Although the resulting overlap creates the likelihood of double counting (and should be avoided in causal research designs), research consistently finds that both income and health have independent effects on desirable educational outcomes. Adding to the complications of overlapping indicators, policy solutions may impact child health quite directly-through, say, school-based health clinics (see, e.g., McNall, Lichty, & Mavis, 2010)-and more indirectly through, say, income supports like the Earned Income Tax Credit (see, e.g., Hoynes, Miller, & Simon, 2015). Again, these overlapping indicators are problematic for researchers who aim to discern discrete causal relationships-for instance, ascertaining the unique causal impact of health on learning needs to take into account the simultaneous role of income on learning and health. Such causal research is valuable; indeed, most decisions to include a dimension within the OTLi are based on just this kind of ...
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... Achievement measurement is important for progress (Pfleger, Wilson, Welner & Bibilos, 2018), but when quantitative measures become a goal, the outcome could be destructive. Apparently, science does not learn from the mistakes of others, and not even from its own research. ...
The aim of this study is to explore the effects of professional factors (academic rank and academic-administrative role) and home-unit-related factors (affiliation and number of faculty members in the faculty) on faculty members’ research output, measured by number of citations. Research literature on operations research in the academia reflects a dual approach to the association between number of citations and research quality, although it is generally concurred that the number of citations is taken into consideration in assessments for promotion and tenure, and represents a measure of publication quality. The association between faculty members’ administrative roles and their academic output is explored for the first time in this study.We collected data on four citation-related variables for 315 senior faculty members, as well as their affiliation, academic rank, and administrative/academic role, if any. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to test the model’s goodness of fit.Findings show that faculty affiliation, academic rank, and academic-administrative role affect number of citations. The association between number of citations per faculty, engagement in administrative tasks, and the number of faculty members in the faculty has significant implications for faculty promotion policies and the “price” faculty members pay for assuming administrative duties, especially in the early years of their academic career. Furthermore, the faculty also plays an important role in academic outputs, and its organizational climate may promote or disrupt research-oriented academic careers.
... In the Israeli case, as presented here, the CS is also a key figure at the university to which it belongs and usually is a tenure track that it will return to; this positioning cements the CS's position as knowledge creator. Thus, in contrast to common descriptions of knowledge brokers in the international scholarship (Pfleger et al., 2018;Ward et al., 2009), the CS in Israel does not seem to fully embody and symbolize the role of the knowledge manufacturing side while, on the other hand, it neither does exclusively represent knowledge consumers at the policy level. As such, the CS is not creating a third role of mediation. ...
In the 1970s, the role of “chief scientist” was established in Israel as part of a knowledge mediation model aimed to promote research-informed policy and narrow the academia-field-policy gap. This paper examines how when researchers cross the boundary toward a policy role and serve as knowledge brokers, they may promote research utilization in policy. This sheds light on a key issue in the field of education research, specifically, what conditions or circumstances contribute to the maximization of research utilization and the implementation of research-based policy recommendations. Using qualitative methodology, we conducted semi-structured interviews with past chief scientists and analyzed newspaper articles to understand the complex nature of the role and to propose practical suggestions for improving its construction in future policy beyond the Israeli context. Despite the positive aura surrounding the common use of intermediaries, the issue of promoting such entities at the national educational level has not yet been realized in a coherent, stand-alone policy globally.
... Returning to the idea of impact, introduced at the beginning of this article, existing literature examines various policy-related avenues that educational researchers may utilize to influence law and policy. These options include serving as an expert witness (e.g., Welner & Kupermintz, 2004), actively engaging in policy discourse (Pfleger et al., 2018), building relationships with intermediary organizations (Debray, Scott, Lubienski, & Jabbar, 2014), participating in the amicus brief process in court cases (Garces, 2013a;Lewis & Bray, 2019), and indirectly shaping public opinion (Welner, 2012). However, to our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the relationship between research and civil rights guidance, particularly from a bidirectional perspective. ...
... Relationships are key to bridging the gap between research and policy. According to Pfleger, Wilson, Welner, & Bibilos (2018), "a key element of such public scholarship calls upon researchers to join with others to more directly communicate research with policy-makers and practitioners, fostering democratic public problem solving in ways that resonate with broad concerns" (p. 17). ...
As the primary agency responsible for enforcing federal civil rights laws in the educational context, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issues policy guidance to help ensure that school districts and universities understand their legal obligations. These policy guidance documents have direct connections to topics studied by educational researchers (e.g., disproportionality in special education, race conscious admissions policies in higher education, transgender student inclusion, etc.). However, we do not have an empirical understanding of how this guidance is used by the research community. Nor do we have a strong grasp on the extent to which this guidance is explicitly informed by research. It is important to acquire an empirical understanding of the bidirectional relationship between research and educational policy in the context of civil rights enforcement in order to determine areas of strength and those in need of improvement. Specifically, this study poses the following research questions: 1) How often and in what ways do scholars explicitly use OCR policy guidance to inform their research? What are the characteristics of this research? 2) Conversely, how often and in what ways does OCR explicitly use research to inform policy guidance? What are the characteristics of research cited in OCR guidance?
... Ciertamente requiere de la pericia y disposición del personal docente, pero también es necesario contar con apoyo administrativo, involucramiento por parte de representantes de la industria y compromiso de los estudiantes. En el centro de todo se encuentra la investigación educativa, a través de la cual los investigadores promueven la discusión que guía a los diferentes actores relacionados con IES para que generen políticas y acciones congruentes con un propósito común (Pfleger et al., 2018). ...
Existe interés en círculos académicos por discutir el papel de las universidades en la preparación de estudiantes para el empleo y desarrollo de competencias para la empleabilidad. Este interés parte de los altos índices de desempleo entre jóvenes profesionistas en algunos países. Este artículo tiene como propósito documentar avances logrados respecto a la investigación educativa con enfoque en empleabilidad. Con base en una metodología cualitativa de análisis de contenido, se examinaron 46 artículos arbitrados sobre educación para la empleabilidad. Los resultados señalan seis categorías de temas en los trabajos de la muestra respecto a la labor que se lleva a cabo en universidades para fomentar la empleabilidad. Estas categorías son: competencias transversales para la empleabilidad, equidad, fomento a la empleabilidad, internacionalización, programas educativos y mercado laboral. Estas seis categorías representan oportunidades para la docencia, servicio institucional e investigación. Las implicaciones se discuten desde la perspectiva de las aportaciones de Boyer y otros que argumentan en favor de la articulación de funciones del profesorado.
Schoolyards represent an important opportunity for physical activity, development and learning. However, there is minimal policy or accountability for their level or distribution. Through community partnership and citizen science, we built a system-wide picture of schoolyard quality across Ontario, using a validated, standardized tool. Quality was low with considerable variation. The top-scoring school scored 61 of a possible 88 points, the minimum was 14 (M = 35.3; SD = 9.9). Affluent schools and communities had slightly better playgrounds than poorer ones. Knowledge mobilization about how schoolyards impact health and shortcomings in existing resources raise possibilities for advocacy and policy work.
Given the legal nature of special education, a particularly promising avenue for infusing research into practice is through court cases. Recent work has illuminated the influence of amicus briefs in court decisions. An amicus brief is a nonparty brief submitted by a person, group of people, or organization that provides insight and expertise on issues presented in a case. In this exploratory study, we examined how interest groups, through the amicus brief process, used research in a recent Supreme Court case, Endrew F. v. Douglas County School District. The case focused on a fundamental principle at the heart of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the definition of a free appropriate public education, an issue in which researchers, practitioners, and policymakers alike should be interested. Our findings indicate that researchers and research played a limited role in the briefing process. We conclude with a discussion of potential reasons for the lack of research in the briefing process, as well as a call for the field to use amicus briefs as a means to influence special education policy and practice.
