The RSJC leverages the potential power of research-practice partnerships to address one of the grand challenges of our time: deep, persistent educational inequities in learning opportunities and outcomes that disproportionately impact historically marginalized students.

RPPs are centered on equity: 

• 1) equity of the research outcomes, aimed at pushing research towards solving practical problems that our most marginalized communities face; and

• 2) equity of the research process, aimed at disrupting the traditional power dynamic between researchers (“experts”) and practitioners (passive recipients of the "experts"’ knowledge). 

The RSJC is partnering with local educational practitioners around the pressing challenges they face. Through a collaborative effort that spans the UMD College of Education, Office of Community Engagement, School of Public Policy, and local school districts, the RSJC is designing and implementing research-practice partnerships that tackle pressing problems of racial and social justice in our school communities; fostering connections among UMD faculty and local practitioners; and building the capacity of UMD faculty and students to engage in impactful RPPs.

Bridging the space between communities, schools, and "the ivory tower" takes more than collaboration, it takes trust, humility, and shared purpose. 

We are grateful to be in community with educators, researchers, and district partners who aren’t just studying change, but co-creating it. 

Together, we’re reimagining what education can look like when practice and research meet in the spirit of justice, story, and collective growth!