What Makes a Research Partnership Useful to State Education Leaders?

Nationwide, state education leaders are investing in initiatives to improve education outcomes for students. How can researchers best support this important work?

Dr. Julie Riordan, EDC Distinguished Scholar/Advisor, is an expert in education research partnerships. For decades, she has supported state leaders in achieving their goals for students, including through her role as Director of the Regional Educational Laboratory-Northeast & Islands funded by Institute of Education Sciences.

“State education leaders want to know if the initiatives they’re investing in are effective and to understand what is changing in classrooms,” says Riordan.

In this conversation, Riordan shares insights from her experience in the field and current research. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

1. What questions are top-of-mind right now for state education leaders?

Right now, many state education leaders are asking how to make their major statewide investments work better for students. In literacy and mathematics, for example, states have invested in curricula, high-quality instructional materials, professional learning, and targeted student interventions. Other priorities include how to best promote college and career readiness, recruit and retain effective teachers, engage parents, reduce chronic student absenteeism, and expand access to early learning.

While priorities vary across states, fiscal constraints are a reality for all states and raise questions about resource allocation, budgeting for special education costs, and sustaining needed services. Common questions are: “What should we continue, strengthen, expand, or change?” and “How should we target funding to support those choices?” Leaders need evidence to guide both policy and investment decisions within the resources and timelines they have.

2. How do you work with state education leaders to address those questions?

We start by listening and understanding what they need to accomplish. Often, leaders want help understanding how a statewide policy or initiative is being implemented, where additional support is needed, or whether it is producing the intended results. We clarify the problem, the decisions ahead, what they have already tried, and what information would help them move forward.

Then we work together to determine the most useful response. Sometimes relevant research already exists, and our role is to help leaders find it and consider how it applies to their circumstances. Sometimes we can answer a question using data the state already collects. Other times, state leaders ask us to conduct a new study or support them in strengthening data collection before a study can proceed.

A Learning Agenda can connect these efforts over time, helping leaders identify what they already know, what they still need to learn, and which questions to address first. We also work with Regional Comprehensive Centers and other assistance providers so that evidence and support for putting changes into practice reinforce one another.

3. What should state education leaders be able to expect from their research partners?

They should expect rigorous research, honest answers, and a partner who follows through. That includes being clear about what the evidence supports, what remains uncertain, and what we can realistically accomplish.

They should also expect us to understand the context in which they work. State education agencies operate within legislative calendars, budget cycles, staffing constraints, and changing leadership priorities. Those conditions affect whether research will remain useful and when findings are needed. We stay attentive to those changes and work with partners to adapt questions, timing, or support while maintaining rigor.

Trust develops through the daily work: listening carefully, responding to what matters to partners, meeting commitments, and making their work easier. Leaders should feel comfortable telling us when something is no longer useful or when their needs have changed.

4. How can research partnerships help state leaders use evidence to improve outcomes for students?

State leaders make decisions that shape students’ opportunities, including how to support teachers, allocate resources, and strengthen instruction. Partnerships help leaders identify what they need to learn to make those decisions and develop a sequence of questions that builds understanding over time.

The connection to student outcomes often involves several steps: evidence informs a decision, the agency and its partners act on it, and changes reach schools and classrooms. Partnerships help connect those steps and identify what leaders need to learn next.

In our partnership with the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE), we collaborated on a study of their Teacher Education and Mentoring (TEAM) Program. Together, we found that teachers who completed more TEAM requirements were more likely to stay in their district and in Connecticut public schools. We also identified variation in completion, particularly in documented time with mentors. Those findings gave CSDE information about how to strengthen support for beginning teachers.

5. What advice would you give researchers who are new to working with state education agencies?

Be guided by the fact that state education leaders are experts. You will learn a lot from agency expertise, while agency staff will gain access to additional methods, tools, and dedicated support. Learn how the agency works and what its staff are responsible for before proposing a study. Ask about their priorities, existing efforts, decision timelines, and available capacity. Studies aligned with what agency staff need to know to achieve their goals are more likely to generate strong engagement and sustained partnership.

Be careful about the demands you place on state education leaders and staff. Data requests, meetings, and reviews all take time from busy people with competing responsibilities. Make those requests purposeful and look for opportunities to develop something useful together, such as documented analytic code, a survey instrument, or a process education leaders can use again to sustain their work.

And stay engaged beyond delivering a report. Help partners understand the findings, consider their implications, and identify a feasible next step. The quality of the relationship and the usefulness of the work develop together.

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