The University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) and Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) have historically engaged in many research and practice projects and initiatives, mostly initiated by individuals with limited intentional collaboration at the system level. However, through a transparent and intentional partnership, there is greater potential to improve outcomes for students, educators, and schools more broadly. With support from the Minneapolis Foundation, CEHD and MPS are coming together to think differently about how they work together. We acknowledge that both CEHD and MPS have highly-skilled researchers and practitioners; together we will accomplish more than we could apart!

Teacher working with a student

Together we will
accomplish more than
we could apart.

Research in CEHD covers a broad range of basic to applied topics. Many researchers in the college are engaged scholars, who strive to inform and impact practice. They rely on practitioner partners to ensure that the research topics and methods are relevant and appropriate for the intended audiences. Simultaneously, MPS strives to adopt and engage in evidence-informed, state-of-the-art practices to make meaningful progress toward academic, equity, and sustainability goals.

In the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years, CEHD researchers and MPS personnel engaged in virtual roundtable discussions to explore potential avenues for partnership in literacy, math, school climate, and teacher recruitment/retention. During the 2023-24 school year, we’re focused on:

  • Fostering connection, communication, and dialogue between expert practitioners and researchers at both institutions;
  • Listening to MPS educators to understand barriers to implementation of evidence-based practices; and
  • Launching new collaborative research and evaluation projects in literacy and teacher support, development, and sustainment

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