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RPPs, DEFINED

We align our understanding of research-practice partnerships (RPPs) with the most recent field-sourced definition put forth by Farrell and colleagues in 2021:

  • “A long-term collaboration aimed at educational improvement or equitable transformation through engagement with research. These partnerships are intentionally organized to connect diverse forms of expertise and shift power relations in the research endeavor to ensure that all partners have a say in the joint work.” (page 5) (source)

In this definition, we see at least five core dimensions that are important in helping define the boundaries of RPP work: long-term collaborations; intentionally organized to connect diverse forms of expertise; shift power relations to ensure all partners have a say in the joint work; aims include educational improvement and equitable transformation; and engagement with research is key.

The beauty of this definition is that it is full of possibility; that is, it is suggestive of what features we should expect to find in an RPP, but it is not prescriptive in that it does not dictate how these features should look in practice. We think the flexibility of this definition is critical: Our experiences at NNERPP have shown us just how different RPPs can be, even if they consist of similarly situated institutions and individuals. For one, the range of research topics taken up by RPPs is vast. Some partnerships specialize in one focal area while others may support a wide-ranging portfolio of inquiry. With respect to institutions involved, the number and types of organizations participating, as well as the number of people and types of roles represented, can vary substantially. Some RPPs are between a university and a school; others are between a set of universities and a school district; still others may involve a research institution partnering with a state education agency; and others might be a combination of all of these, depending on any given project! Finally, RPPs can also be distinguished by the scope of goals they pursue. Because they commonly emerge from a desire to intentionally connect research and practice that attends to context-specific needs, RPPs can thus function very differently depending on these aims.

Note that we do not use the phrase “researcher-practitioner partnerships” when describing or labeling RPPs. This characterization is not especially informative or clear in that “researchers” can certainly be found in practice-facing settings, while some university-based “researchers” may consider themselves to be “practitioners”. For example, within a number of practice-side organizations (such as school districts), there are often a number of individuals who are highly qualified PhD-trained researchers. As a result, we prefer the labeling of “research-practice partnerships”, which shifts the focus to “research” and “practice”, and is more suggestive of activities and institutional homes for the work.

We also understand RPPs to be one of many collaborative education research approaches that seek to disrupt existing ways of working in research, policy, and practice.

PEOPLE IN RPPs

At NNERPP, we have come to organize our conceptualization of RPPs into three “sides” representing the home organizations that commonly participate in an RPP:

  • The “Practice-Side” or “P-Side”, which includes organizations whose main purpose is to administer education
  • The “Research-Side” or “R-Side”, which includes organizations whose main purpose is to study education
  • The “Community-Side” or “C-Side”, which includes organizations whose main purpose is to support community endeavors, in addition to more informal community-based groups, such as families or students

We think the focus on organizations or “sides” to the work is especially important to name because it ends up playing a role in how individual-level participation occurs. That is, individuals typically must navigate the complexities introduced by their home organizations, which may offer varying degrees of support for RPP work. We provide further information on these three “sides” in the pages contained in this section.

 

ACTIVITIES IN RPPs

There are a number of activities that occur in RPP work. We include a short list of the most common / central activities that you are likely to find in an RPP that is comprised of at least the R and P sides. We recognize that RPPs are all different, which means some of these activities may apply more or less depending on the partnership, their goals, and the context. Activities in this list include: Brokering, research and inquiry activities, communications and engagement, supporting the use of research evidence, and supporting the P-side in achieving their goals.

 

CENTERING EQUITY IN RPPs

Although equity is commonly woven throughout every aspect of RPP work, we include an additional set of pages here to make clear the important ways in which equity can and does show up in partnership efforts. While an RPP is theoretically poised to attend to a number of different dimensions of equity, including how partners work together, the types of topics and goals that are prioritized, and how they may work to address long standing inequities produced by education systems, it should not be assumed that they can or will do this without focused and intentional effort. As such, we provide a starting point that outlines some of the various ways that RPPs can (and do) attend to equity in their work.