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Bridging the Word Gap Research Network Practice-Based Research Collaborative

Description and Proposal Submission Proposal Form

ThePractice-based Research Collaborative(PBRC)is a consortium of research - program partnershipsfocused on serving as innovation clusters to develop interventions or strategies and to address questions of immediate importance to bridge the word gap. The PBRC concept emphasizes rapid-cycle, efficient, research and dissemination efforts that produce practical information and tools linking success to their impact on outcomes. Beyond new knowledge thathelps families, children, home visitors, early educators, health practitioners, and community agencies, the benefits of practice-based research collaborative projects include the potential for collaboration with other researchers and practitioners, faster adoption of practices and training of providers and dissemination opportunities. We invite you and your colleagues to submit a proposal for consideration as a PBRC project to the Bridging the Word Gap Research Network PBRC Steering Committee.

Who is invitedtoparticipate? Practitioners and researchers,including members of the Bridging the Word Gap (BWG) Research Network,are invited to submita proposal for consideration as a project under the BWG PBRC. Proposed projectsmay come from an existing or newly planned project in which practitioners and researchers partner together. The proposal form is located at the end of this description and may also be found at:

This PBRC proposal process is opento practitioners and researcherswishing to be members of communities of practice focused on designing effective, scalable interventions, strategies and tools to bridge the word gap. The communities of practice under the PBRC will be organized around common practice issues relevant to home visiting, child care and early education, pediatric or public health care, and community-based settings (e.g., libraries, religious communities, etc.). Research ideas addressed in projects should be immediately relevant to programs or agencies serving infants, toddlers and young children between birth and 5 years. Examples of interventions, strategies, or tools relevant to bridging the word gapinclude:

•Identifying whatintervention strategies are working for whom, and/or in what context or settings.

•Testing intervention strategies or programs that engage parents in promoting their child’s communication.

•Identifying and testing effective strategies for recruiting and retaining participants in intervention - especially participants from underrepresented groups.

•Testing strategies for helping early childhood teachers and/or practitioners promote the language of children who speak a language other than English as their home language.

•Testing approaches for home visitors to keep parents actively engaged in a language-promoting intervention.

•Identifying barriers and testing ways to overcomechallenges to implementing effective and scalable interventions addressing the word gap.

•Developing and testing an intervention that pediatric health care workers can use to teach parents about ways they can support their child’s language development.

•Testing an approach that communities can use to increase public awareness of the importance of talking with children.

•Developing and/or testing a tool that helps screen or assess children’s early language development and/or components of their language-learning environment.

•Developing and testing measuresthat can be used in the field by practitioners to guide progress on their interventions in homes, classrooms, or community settings.

What are the benefits of participation in this PBRC? If your application proposal is accepted into the PBRC, your project will be aligned with a corresponding community of practice around topics of interest to PBRC members and matched witha mentor team from the BWG Research Network as appropriate. These teams may be a resource for, or provide technical assistance for, refining studies and for ongoing collaboration. Findingsgenerated from these PBRC studies will be disseminated to the BWG PBRC, the greater BWG Research Network, included in presentations and BWG Research Network materials, and through other publication outlets. Other benefits to participating in this PBRC include but are not limited to:

  • Receiving input fromBWG Research Network members in the development and refinement of interventions,research designs,data infrastructureand/or designing evaluation to help achieve project goals.
  • Being a member of a collective of practitioners and researchers who are interested in the topic of bridging the word gap.
  • Belonging to the BWG Research Network with national and international reachthrough which work developed through PBRC partnership projects may be highlighted (see posters presented at a national conference from the first BWG PBRC cohort here).
  • Having increased visibility among theBWG Research Network’s participating researchers, practitioners, policymakers and potential funders who may assist in fostering continued cycles of experimentation and innovation.

How to propose a PBRC study. Practitioners and researchers (including BWG researchers with relationships with practice-based organizations) are invited to submit proposals for consideration by the BWG Research Network PBRC Steering Committee (see Proposal Study Description Form below).

In addition to the 3-page Proposed Study Description Form, please attach: a) vitae/resumes or NIH/IES biosketches for up to 4 key personnel, b) biographical paragraph(s)for up to 4 key personnel (if not included on vita/resume), and c) Letters of commitment indicating a willingness of both a lead researcher and practitioner/program to collaborate on the project.

Please email proposals to the BWG Research Network Coordinator, Alana o be included in the 2017 Fall PBRC cohort. Contact us with any questions you may have by emailing Dale Walker

We look forward to hearing from you!

Bridging the Word Gap Research Network

Practice-Based Research Collaborative Study Proposal Form

Please fill in each section of this study proposal form. Please use this form only and use a font size of11 pt. or larger to complete the form.

Name of primary contact for this proposal:

Primary contact email address:

Primary contact phone:

Primary contact organization name and address:

Role of the primary contact with the organization:

List other key personnel contacts for this proposal, their organization, role and email address:

Name / Organization / Primary Role / Email address

STUDY or PROJECT TITLE:

ABSTRACT: Describe your study or innovationon this page using an 11- or 12-point font size only.Please includeinformation describing: (a) how yourresearch project will be relevant to addressing the word gap; (b) who your project will include as participants; (c) the expected sample size; (d) the research questions and/or objectives you will address; (e) the outcome(s) you expect; and (f) how your project is a partnership between researchers and practitioners.

METHODS

Describe how your study/project is relevant to one or more of the Bridging the Word Gap Research Network Work Group(s):

Expected activities and timelinefor your project:

Describe the experimental design you propose to use to test your intervention or innovation:

List the data collection methodsand/ormeasurement tools you plan to useto measure outcomes and implementation fidelity(e.g., survey, observation, progress monitoring):

PROFESSIONAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION:

In addition to the completed Proposal Form, please attach a copy of the following documents:

  1. A short (1-4 page) vita or IES/NIH biosketch for up to 4 key personnel.
  2. A brief biographical paragraph for key project personnel (1-4 persons). (Please limit each paragraph to 150 words or less if not included in resume or biosketch document.)
  3. Letters of commitment from the partnering lead practitioner and researcher.

Please submit completed proposal form and other documents as attachments in an email to: Alana Schnitz (BWG PBRC Project Coordinator) . Please include your last name and “PBRC Proposal” in your subject line so files can be grouped together.

Questions regarding potential projects? Contact Dale Walker (BWG PBRC Steering Committee Chair)or Anne Larson (Co-Chair)

6/25/2017