Trusted, equity-focused, & community-engaged education researchers and policy experts.
Research for Action is a nonprofit education research organization. We use field-driven insights to advance equity in opportunities and outcomes for underserved students and their families along the early childhood to postsecondary education pipeline.
New Report Shares Lessons from Black Teachers’ Experiences in Allegheny County
RFA studied why Black teachers were leaving their jobs more than White teachers in Allegheny County from 2014 to 2020.
The Upside-Down System: Inequity in Pennsylvania’s System of Public Education
RFA’s Director of Policy Research David Lapp delivered testimony at a hearing before the Basic Education Funding Commission. Read and see his testimony here.
Educational Opportunity Dashboard
Built with data from the 2017-18 federal Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), this interactive tool from RFA allows users to compare disparities in access to educational opportunity for students in all 50 states and the nation. Visit the Dashboard to examine the data on your home state and review RFA’s reports about educational opportunity in the nation and in Pennsylvania.
Visit the Dashboard
Becoming a Community-Engaged Research Organization
We know that research is better and more impactful when communities are engaged throughout the research process. But how can research organizations become community-engaged? To document the “how,” Research for Action launched a Community Research Partnership, and after its first year, we’re documenting our learnings through a brief and an audio-doc, which share five key insights we’ve drawn from embarking on this transformative journey.
Top 5 InsightsAbout Us
For 30 years, RFA has conducted research and evaluation to improve education policy and practice. Using culturally-responsive and equity-focused approaches to research studies, collaboration, and partnership, we work to advance racial and social justice so that all students, families, and their communities have the resources and supports to develop their potential and thrive.
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See All ProjectsOur Approach
A hallmark of RFA’s research and evaluation work is our responsive and collaborative approach to partnerships. Our research directly addresses the information needs of our partners and key stakeholders, knowing that education policies and contexts can shift, and important decisions need to be made to seize the moment to improve policy and practice.
