Chapter 15: Speaking Up and Speaking Out: Editorials as a Means to Shape Public Perceptions and Educational Policy

This edited book is dedicated to how researchers can maximize the impact of their research for changes in policy to support school improvement. The underlying assumption of the book is that well-designed research with strategic approaches to communication can reach and inform policymakers, which in turn can contribute to policies that support school improvement. We strongly believe in the merit of attending to how researchers can be more strategic in their efforts to design and implement research that is relevant and can be translated for policymakers’ decision-making and legislative agendas. However, a focus on research design and dissemination to policymakers may not be sufficient. Knowledge generated through research is not always widely available or accessible to policymakers (Reimers & McGinn, 1997). Most knowledge produced by researchers is locked away behind peer-reviewed journals with paywalls. Even if policymakers could access these journals, they and members of the public would find themselves lost and disinterested in the dense format and academic jargon. In other instances, given that most policymakers are elected officials, policy decisions can also be based on perceptions of public opinion. Indeed, our democracy depends on some degree of public input in the policymaking process (Fishkin et al., 2000). Consequently, researchers who are knowledgeable about school improvement and have generated research with important implications for policy will often have to look to other methods to communicate with policymakers and those who elect and appoint policymakers.