Summative evaluation of the Research + Practice Collaboratory: Final report

Abstract

To examine the Research + Practice Collaboratory’s strategy, SRI interviewed project leadership and professional association contacts, conducted observations at events, and reviewed documents to develop descriptions of strategies, activities, and routines. We later refined these descriptions by checking them against findings from other analysis tasks. To examine the Collaboratory’s outcomes, we used digital metrics (e.g., Google Analytics) to gauge the project’s reach and the uptake of its products, and then benchmarked the results of this analysis against the same metrics from several other similar entities. We also used interviews and surveys to gather the perspectives of people who partnered with the Collaboratory, participated in its events, and used its tools and resources, including professional association leaders, workshop participants, and website users. We also sought to place the Collaboratory in the broader education research-and-practice landscape by investigating the views, priorities, and needs of people involved in research-practice partnerships who had not participated in Collaboratory activities (including people who had not heard of it), as well of people who fund research-practice partnerships in education. In this way, the evaluation draws on findings regarding views and experience both within and beyond the Collaboratory’s sphere of influence.