In January, Education Northwest began carrying out its ninth consecutive contract serving Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington as the regional educational laboratory (REL) for the Northwest. As in the past, REL Northwest is working to build regional stakeholders’ capacity to identify, access, use, and apply research evidence and data to meet their self-defined goals for improving educational outcomes.

Over the next five years, much of this capacity building will be carried out through research alliances with Northwest educational organizations. These collaborations will work on topics that reflect regional and national priorities, including school improvement; college and career readiness; and educational equity.

“The Institute of Education Sciences’ vision for the research alliances is for the RELs to work with groups focused on common educational problems in their region—helping them to use research and data in a way that can help solve these issues,” says Christopher Mazzeo, deputy director of REL Northwest. “As we develop relationships with these groups and they are able to implement sustainable, practical solutions, we anticipate that this knowledge base of best practices will spread.”

In 2012 research alliance work involves the following groups:

Alaska

Alaska State Policy Research Alliance (ASPRA)
Policymakers and researchers from Alaska’s higher education system are focused on creating a shared research agenda to improve education and build awareness of research evidence about key education policy issues.

Idaho

Idaho Statewide System of Support
State education agency staff, technical assistance providers, and stakeholders from local education agencies are using evidence related to school improvement to improve the support provided to low-performing schools.

Montana

Montana AA District Network
Representatives from districts with high schools that have more than 1,000 students are helping districts and principals use data to improve high school graduation rates and evaluate dropout prevention initiatives.

Oregon

Oregon Leadership Network (OLN)
Representatives from Oregon school districts are focused on collecting and analyzing data about policies, programs, and practices that promote equity in high school graduation and discipline practices.

Rural Schools Network (RSN)
Administrators from 22 Oregon GEAR UP rural districts with more than 50 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch are using data and conducting research to better understand what helps their students reach and succeed at college.

Washington

Washington Educational Service Districts (ESDs)
Representatives from Washington's nine ESDs are using state and local data to support more effective school improvement decision-making by teachers and principals.

Road Map for Education Results
Part of a cradle-to-college initiative involving seven districts in South Seattle and South King County, this alliance is focused on helping districts identify indicators of ELL students' academic success and language development and using evidence to better support ELL students.

Regional

Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) Schools
Representatives from BIE high schools in Oregon and Washington are working to improve data quality and use, particularly to inform efforts to increase graduation rates and prepare students for success in college and careers.

Visit the REL Northwest section of our website regularly for updates as our work with the research alliances and other regional partners evolves.