ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we discuss the collaboration that occurred within a research practice partnership (RPP) between the Kent School District (KSD) in Washington state and The Learning Accelerator (TLA), a national education nonprofit committed to achieving education equity for all students. Recognizing that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated inequities, the district and nonprofit research teams formed a partnership to examine student learning from an asset perspective. The analysis identified “bright spot” schools where students receiving free or reduced-price lunch (FRL) services made more reading progress than their peers and then surfaced strategies that might accelerate learning for all students. Through this RPP, the research team built research capacity within the school district and enhanced the contextual knowledge of the nonprofit. This research opportunity also positioned the research team to center, uplift, and empower practitioner voices from their school communities. By engaging practitioners in the research process, the team normalized mixed methods research in the role of district decision-making, disrupted traditional power structures around knowledge generation, and rooted a source of learning within the community, setting precedent for future research engagements at Kent School District.
