Social Science Research Council

Fits and Starts: Knowledge Use in Education Policymaking
A Symposium for Researchers, Practitioners and Philanthropists

On June 23-24, 2005, the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) hosted a symposium in New York City of researchers, practitioners and philanthropists addressing current state of education research and its reception among decision makers. This symposium was supported by the William T. Grant Foundation.

The symposium was created on the premise that the reception and incorporation of education research among key policy actors at the federal and state level is an understudied “black box” phenomenon deserving closer scrutiny. Moreover, in the context of the contemporary politics of education research, the SSRC considered this a particularly important moment to address the use of research in education policymaking.

The goal of this symposium was to address seven key issues through a high level and targeted set of presentations and discussions:

• How do we define knowledge use in a policy context? How are we using the terms research and evidence in this context?
• What models of knowledge transmission to policy currently exist?
• What constitutes present day transmission channels?
• Who are mediators of knowledge and what role do they play in transmission and reception?
• Who are the key policy influentials who use the education research and evidence being produced?
• What kind of variation do we see in knowledge use when considering the approaches and output of education research?
• What bestows public legitimacy on knowledge? Also, to what degree does the scientific quality of research on education influence the use that is made of the research by policymakers and opinion leaders?