Improving the Value of Research for Policymakers, Journalists, and the Public

Summary

The purpose of this project was to inform public debates by developing an on-line platform to share current social-science research with parents, policymakers, journalists, educators and the broader public in a comprehensible manner. The project was originally developed to address the current knowledge environment which fosters fragmented information. This project was designed to facilitate the dissemination of education information, addressing the pressing issue of financing research dissemination by providing a publishing system which contained costs, enhanced academic research and made new findings intelligible to a lay audience. The prototype website focused on the dissemination of social science research in the field of education, so that policymakers could consider up-to-date research in policy deliberations and educators, administrators and parents could have access to recent findings on best practices in the field of education.

Grant Outputs

The Case for Open Access to Research and Scholarship – http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?tid=10611&ttype=2

This article presents the argument in favour of open access to academic research. It traces the development of the American public library system over time, and summarizes current discussions about public access to recent academic work.

Extending the Prospects of Evidence-Based Education – http://pkp.sfu.ca/files/Evidence-BasedEducation.pdf

This report argues that evidence-based education, which allows teachers to review evidence of best practices and replicate the most successful programs in their classrooms, should be encouraged in Canadian schools. Research outcomes from the social sciences are not widely accessible, and consequently are often overlooked during the process of education policy formation. This report favours building an infrastructure to support the transfer of evidence-based education research so that all educators have access a knowledge base that might improve the education system in Canada, regardless of socioeconomic status or other issues pertaining to social disparities.