Michigan's state-level Research Collaborative, led by members from the MDE and the Center for Educational Performance and Information, enables the organization of a broad research capacity to address state education policy questions in a more coherent fashion. The Research Collaborative enables a fuller understanding of the issues our educational system faces and fosters ongoing working relationships within the research community as well as the community at large by:
• Setting and prioritizing educational research goals, priorities, polices and a research agenda;
• Assembling researchers to form consortiums and partnerships to collaborate and support educational goals and priorities in the State of Michigan;
• Establishing research data request guidelines and standards for proposal submission;
• Reviewing research proposals, regardless of funding source;
• Ensuring that student, school and system performance are measured meaningfully and researchers apply rigorous social science methodology to produce accurate and reliable studies;
• Making research results publically available through this webpage and the state's education data portal, MI School Data (https://www.mischooldata.org);
• Helping researchers communicate actionable findings through presentation opportunities on the implementation and effectiveness of programs and policies necessary to ensure informed decision-making regarding future efforts;
• Building the technical and human capacity to use the data effectively at all educational levels, by research audiences and centrally; and
• Helping to foster community understanding of the relevance of research and evaluation.
