Helping America's Dual Language Learners Succeed: A Research-based Agenda for Action

In the fall of 2014, the Heising-Simons and McKnight Foundations provided support for a National Research Summit on the Early Care and Education of Dual Language Learners (DLLs) in Washington, DC. The goal of the two day summit was to engage and extend the established knowledge base accrued by the Center for Early Care and Educational Research Dual Language Learners (CECER-DLL), while simultaneously informing the future potential efforts by the Heising-Simons and McKnight Foundations specific to the early care and education of dual language learners. Day two centered on the presentation of five McKnight-commissioned papers, the topics of which included: Research Based Models and Best Practices for DLLs across PreK - 3rd gradePerspectives on Assessment of DLLs Development & Learning, PreK - 3Human Resource Development and Support for Those Serving DLLsThe Critical Role of Leaderships in Programs Designed for DLLs, PreK - 3Policy Advances & Levers Related to DLLs in PreK - 3rd gradeThe report attempts to provide a short summary and synthesis of the topics covered in these papers and the discussion generated at the National Summit on Early Care and Education of Dual Language Learners. In addition, a set of recommendations are presented for each topic with regard to the implications drawn from these synthesis and of particular relevance to the supporting foundations' future investment considerations related to DLLs

Place and Destination Branding: A Review and Conceptual Mapping of the Domain

Although there is increasing interest in place and destination branding, the inter‐disciplinary nature of the field poses challenges for the development of a coherent knowledge base. With a view to informing both research and practice, this article presents a systematic review combining place and destination branding, identifying and defining its core themes, and developing a conceptual map of the inter‐play between them. The following key themes are identified: general, brand identity, image and personality, politics, heritage, communication/media, country‐of‐ origin, and designscape and infrastructure. The article concludes with an agenda for further research including the need for research on specific themes across a wider range of place entities

Advancing knowledge for haemato-oncology nursing practice

Nurses working in haemato-oncology require specialised knowledge and yet, formal education programmes and textbooks devoted to the speciality are limited. In advancing knowledge for haemato-oncology nursing practice this project endeavours to develop, synthesise, organise and disseminate available evidence making it more accessible to practising nurses. The project consists of two inter-related parts: reflection on, and critique of, the development and editing of the second edition of a nursing textbook and a Delphi study of research priorities in haemato-oncology nursing included as a chapter of the textbook. In aiming to expand and advance the knowledge base for nurses working in haematooncology the concept of knowledge, ways of acquiring knowledge and types of nursing knowledge are explored and critically analysed. A textbook is mainly a source of empirical knowledge but ways of encouraging the development of other forms of relevant knowledge are discussed in relation to the format of the textbook. Critical reflection on the development of the textbook is also undertaken to detennine usefulness and value. Development of the first edition of the textbook and analysis of existing literature in haemato-oncology nursing highlighted the paucity of research informing the speciality. This provided the incentive to undertake the Delphi study. Round 1 generated a wide range of research topics, subsequently used to develop the questionnaire for round 2. Round 2 results demonstrated close clustering and little discrimination between research topics. Round 3 was therefore undertaken to increase the reliability and credibility of results and further discriminate between research priorities. Results from rounds 2 and 3 were remarkably consistent with several strong research themes emerging. These themes provide the foundations for the development of a research strategy with the potential to further advance knowledge for haemato-oncology nursing practice

Lost in Translation: Piloting a Novel Framework to Assess the Challenges in Translating Scientific Uncertainty From Empirical Findings to WHO Policy Statements.

BACKGROUND:Calls for evidence-informed public health policy, with implicit promises of greater program effectiveness, have intensified recently. The methods to produce such policies are not self-evident, requiring a conciliation of values and norms between policy-makers and evidence producers. In particular, the translation of uncertainty from empirical research findings, particularly issues of statistical variability and generalizability, is a persistent challenge because of the incremental nature of research and the iterative cycle of advancing knowledge and implementation. This paper aims to assess how the concept of uncertainty is considered and acknowledged in World Health Organization (WHO) policy recommendations and guidelines. METHODS:We selected four WHO policy statements published between 2008-2013 regarding maternal and child nutrient supplementation, infant feeding, heat action plans, and malaria control to represent topics with a spectrum of available evidence bases. Each of these four statements was analyzed using a novel framework to assess the treatment of statistical variability and generalizability. RESULTS:WHO currently provides substantial guidance on addressing statistical variability through GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) ratings for precision and consistency in their guideline documents. Accordingly, our analysis showed that policy-informing questions were addressed by systematic reviews and representations of statistical variability (eg, with numeric confidence intervals). In contrast, the presentation of contextual or "background" evidence regarding etiology or disease burden showed little consideration for this variability. Moreover, generalizability or "indirectness" was uniformly neglected, with little explicit consideration of study settings or subgroups. CONCLUSION:In this paper, we found that non-uniform treatment of statistical variability and generalizability factors that may contribute to uncertainty regarding recommendations were neglected, including the state of evidence informing background questions (prevalence, mechanisms, or burden or distributions of health problems) and little assessment of generalizability, alternate interventions, and additional outcomes not captured by systematic review. These other factors often form a basis for providing policy recommendations, particularly in the absence of a strong evidence base for intervention effects. Consequently, they should also be subject to stringent and systematic evaluation criteria. We suggest that more effort is needed to systematically acknowledge (1) when evidence is missing, conflicting, or equivocal, (2) what normative considerations were also employed, and (3) how additional evidence may be accrued

A Qualitative Study Toward Understanding Educators’ Perceptions of a Talent Development Program Designed to Address the Underrepresentation of Historically Marginalized Students in Advanced Programming in a Large Virginia School Division

This study extends the limited, existing research on Sunnydale Public School’s (SPS’s) SOAR program. For clarity, SOAR is a talent development (TD) program that aims to not only enhance students’ reasoning and problem-solving abilities but also to remedy the racial/ethnic disproportionality of SPS\u27s gifted and talented program. More specifically, I used interpretive, qualitative methods for this investigation to understand participants’ perceptions of SOAR, in hopes of adding to the talent development knowledge base and informing SOAR policy and practice. Ultimately, participant views converged on several topics (i.e. racial and ethnic disproportionality, brain malleability, multiple intelligences, etc.) and diverged on others (i.e. SOAR’s value). Taking interview and focus group data, SPS documents, past researchers’ findings, my own experiences, and existing literature into account, I arrived at and offer several commendations and recommendations that might benefit SPS’s SOAR program and might be considered alongside other research by districts of similar contexts looking to adopt or improve a TD program

Oceans without history? Marine Cultural Heritage and the sustainable development agenda

This paper aims to set out the role Marine Cultural Heritage (MCH) can play in informing responses to global challenges and enhancing the sustainable development of coastal zones. This requires recognition of the importance of MCH as a knowledge base amongst marine ocean scientists, policy makers and marine stakeholders on the one hand and a greater effort by marine heritage specialists to engage with the 2030 Agenda on the other. The forthcoming UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021–2030) provides an opportunity to engage with the sea more widely but it is argued that the cultural element provided by considering past human action is currently lacking. The importance of understanding human interaction with the sea in terms of gaining a more complete picture of human history is briefly presented and a definition of MCH as all past action in the human zone is given. The article then sets out how MCH can enhance sustainable development in the marine zone with particular reference to SDG14 considering heritage tourism, coastal development and infrastructure, development aid policy, climate change, coastal management, fisheries and the offshore industry. The article highlights that the knowledge and data from MCH should be seen as crucial in evidence-based decision making across the coastal and marine sectors. The paper concludes that the inclusion of MCH approaches in initiatives aiming at coastal and ocean sustainability is not just advisable—it is essentia

AGENDA: A NEW TOOL FOR SUSTAINABLE FARM MANAGEMENT, INTEGRATED IN THE AGRI-ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY OF THE EU

AGeNDA is an Italian acronym which stands for Analysis and Integrated Management of the Farm (Analisi e GEstione iNtegrata Dell'Azienda agraria). It denominates a new software developed by a research project carried out at the Department of Agronomy, Environment and Crop Production (DAAPV, University of Padova) in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency of the Veneto Region (ARPAV). Although developed from scratch, the software originates from a past joint research carried out by the two above mentioned institutions in collaboration with the Department of Agricultural Economics and the Center for Farm Financial Management (CFFM) of the University of Minnesota. The joint research started in the early 1990's, focussing on the Planetor software and, in particular, on the evaluation of its potentials for Italy and the development of an Italian version. The source codes and the elaboration procedures of the old and new software tools have nothing in common. Nevertheless, the methodological approach of the two tools is very similar and so is the input structure of the databases. AGeNDA, in fact adopts an approach similar to that of the previous software in utilising an extensive knowledge base about the environment and the production processes (crops and livestock) saved on databases, which are browsed (and edited if required) at the moment of the practical on farm implementation. The paper presents the results, current activities and future prospects of the AGeNDA Project, with the aim of informing the Italian - American group and stimulating possible new collaborations in the future.Farm management, Agri-environmental policy, Software, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management,

Evidence translation in a youth mental health service: clinician perspectives

An evidence–practice gap is well established in the mental health field, and knowledge translation is identified as a key strategy to bridge the gap. This study outlines a knowledge translation strategy, which aims to support clinicians in using evidence in their practice within a youth mental health service ( headspace). We aim to evaluate the strategy by exploring clinicians’ experiences and preferences. The translation strategy includes the creation and dissemination of evidence translation resources that summarize the best available evidence and practice guidelines relating to the management of young people with mental disorders. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 youth mental health clinicians covering three topics: experiences with evidence translation resources, preferences for evidence presentation, and suggestions regarding future translation efforts. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed using thematic analysis. Themes were both predetermined by interview topic and identified freely from the data. Clinicians described their experiences with the evidence translation resources as informing decision making, providing a knowledge base, and instilling clinical confidence. Clinicians expressed a preference for brief, plain language summaries and for involvement and consultation during the creation and dissemination of resources. Suggestions to improve the dissemination strategy and the development of new areas for evidence resources were identified. The knowledge translation efforts described support clinicians in the provision of mental health services for young people. The preferences and experiences described have valuable implications for services implementing knowledge translation strategies

An exploratory cluster randomised controlled trial of knowledge translation strategies to support evidence-informed decision-making in local governments (The KT4LG study)

Background: Childhood overweight and obesity is the most prevalent and, arguably, politically complex child health problem internationally. Governments, communities and industry have important roles to play, and are increasingly expected to deliver an evidence-informed system-wide prevention program. However, efforts are impeded by a lack of organisational access to and use of research evidence. This study aims to identify feasible, acceptable and ideally, effective knowledge translation (KT) strategies to increase evidence-informed decision making in local governments, within the context of childhood obesity prevention as a national policy priority.Methods/Design: This paper describes the methods for KT4LG, a cluster randomised controlled trial which is exploratory in nature, given the limited evidence base and methodological advances. KT4LG aims to examine a program of KT strategies to increase the use of research evidence in informing public health decisions in local governments. KT4LG will also assess the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention. The intervention program comprises a facilitated program of evidence awareness, access to tailored research evidence, critical appraisal skills development, networking and evidence summaries and will be compared to provision of evidence summaries alone in the control program. 28 local governments were randomised to intervention or control, using computer generated numbers, stratified by budget tertile (high, medium or low). Questionnaires will be used to measure impact, costs, and outcomes, and key informant interviews will be used to examine processes, feasibility, and experiences. Policy tracer studies will be included to examine impact of intervention on policies within relevant government policy documents.Discussion: Knowledge translation intervention studies with a focus on public health and prevention are very few in number. Thus, this study will provide essential data on the experience of program implementation and evaluation of a system-integrated intervention program employed within the local government public health context. Standardised programs of system, organisational and individual KT strategies have not been described or rigorously evaluated. As such, the findings will make a significant contribution to understanding whether a facilitated program of KT strategies hold promise for facilitating evidence-informed public health decision making within complex multisectoral government organisations.<br /

Which World Bank reports are widely read?

Knowledge is central to development. The World Bank invests about one-quarter of its budget for country services in knowledge products. Still, there is little research about the demand for these knowledge products and how internal knowledge flows affect their demand. About 49 percent of the World Bank’s policy reports, which are published Economic and Sector Work or Technical Assistance reports, have the stated objective of informing the public debate or influencing the development community. This study uses information on downloads and citations to assesses whether policy reports meet this objective. About 13 percent of policy reports were downloaded at least 250 times while more than 31 percent of policy reports are never downloaded. Almost 87 percent of policy reports were never cited. More expensive, complex, multi-sector, core diagnostics reports on middle-income countries with larger populations tend to be downloaded more frequently. Multi-sector reports also tend to be cited more frequently. Internal knowledge sharing matters as cross support provided by the World Bank’s Research Department consistently increases downloads and citations