Annenberg Institute, Results for America Announce EdResearch for Recovery Project

New Briefs by Leading Education Researchers Will Give Policymakers, Educators, Parents and Other Advocates the Evidence They Need to Respond to COVID-19 Challenges

Washington, DC – Today, the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University and Results for America announced the new EdResearch for Recovery Project, which will provide rapid-turnaround evidence briefs from top researchers to help answer the most pressing education-related questions from policymakers, educators, parents and other advocates as they respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The project is supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

“This project responds to a direct ask from education decision makers to better synthesize research in ways that respond to the needs of the moment,” said Nate Schwartz, Professor of Practice at Brown University’s Annenberg Institute. “Starting with a series of crowdsourced questions from leaders at the state and district levels, we enlisted some of the nation’s leading researchers to develop rapid-response briefs that clearly lay out the evidence base to guide current decision making.”

“The state and local education policymakers we work with need urgent answers to these questions,” said Sara Kerr, Vice President of Education Policy Implementation at Results for America. “The COVID-19 crisis poses immense challenges for our education system, but by providing policymakers, educators, parents and other advocates with the best available evidence – vetted by the nation’s top researchers – we can help them make informed, student-centered decisions.”

As part of the project launch, the Annenberg Institute and Results for America released the first three evidence briefs:

• School Practices to Address Learning Loss – Elaine Allensworth (University of Chicago Consortium on School Research) and Nathaniel Schwartz (Annenberg Institute at Brown University)

• Academic Supports for Students with Disabilities – Nathan Jones (Boston University), Sharon Vaughn (University of Texas at Austin), Lynn Fuchs (Vanderbilt University)

• Guidance and Support for Students Moving into Postsecondary – Sade Bonilla (University of Massachusetts at Amherst), Celeste K. Carruthers (University of Tennessee at Knoxville), and Dominique J. Baker (Southern Methodist University)

Over the last two months, the Annenberg Institute, Results for America and their national network partners reached out to a diverse set of state and local education leaders and practitioners from across the country, and gathered around 50 questions across five topic areas. The project team identified two dozen priority questions, and asked leading researchers to write short briefs – grounded in peer-reviewed research and evidence – to help inform key decision points and recovery strategies for policymakers, educators and other leaders. Upcoming evidence briefs will address topics including:

• Supporting Immigrant Students and English Learners – Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj (University of California-Santa Barbara), Adam Strom, (Director of Re-Imagining Migration), Veronica Boix Mansilla (Harvard University)

• Budget Cuts and Staff Reductions – Susanna Loeb (Brown University), Nora Gordon (Georgetown University), Marguerite Roza (Georgetown University), Eric Taylor (Harvard University)

• Support for Students Experiencing Homelessness – Alexandra Pavlakis, J. Kessa Roberts, Meredith P. Richards (Southern Methodist University), Kathryn Hill and Zitsi Mirakhur (Research Alliance for New York City Schools)

For a complete list of topics and authors, visit the EdResearch for Recovery Project website. Additional briefs will be released and posted to the website on a rolling basis as they are finalized. Sign up here to receive email alerts about future briefs and upcoming events.

Results for America and the Annenberg Institute are partnering with state education agencies, school districts, educator groups, community-based organizations, foundations, advocacy groups, and other organizations to help them ground their planning and advocacy efforts in research evidence and apply those conversations to their policy and practice decisions. RFA and Annenberg will host virtual events, open to the public, to bring researchers, policymakers, and practitioners together to discuss the briefs in context of the pressing challenges facing the education sector.

The project will hold its first “Examining the Evidence” event on July 10th. Education leaders and groups interested in more information or a virtual briefing are encouraged to contact us.

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