By Bess Pierre, PPS/Child Policy Research Certificate student '25
The 2025 Duke School Research Partnership (SRP) poster presentation and dinner this April featured 27 student presenters – the highest number of student participants to date. Hosted by the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy, celebrating its 25th anniversary, the event provided an opportunity for Jacqueline A. Morris Fellow recipients and undergraduates in the Child Policy Research Certificate Program to present their research and connect with local educators.
I was proud to be among this group of students presenting on child policy research issues, particularly due to the incredible range of topics represented across projects. This semester, I had the opportunity to learn and collaborate alongside eight other students in the Child Policy Research Capstone class, working throughout the semester to repackage our independent research into a number of deliverables, ranging from an op-ed to a policy brief. The SRP provided the opportunity to share my research, “An Evaluation of the Every Student Succeeds Act’s Educational Stability Provision for Foster Youth in Massachusetts,” with educators, advocates, and other students. I was also able to connect with students outside of my class, and I was struck by the diversity of research topics. For example, there were many projects on school-based interventions and trends, including bilingual education, engagement in computer science courses, and school discipline, as well as research that focused on other social policies such as the impact of Medicaid expansion on infant mortality, TANF spending patterns, and trauma-informed care. This diversity really highlighted that the Child Policy Research Certificate program attracts students from a variety of disciplines who all find fascinating intersections with child policy.
Attending the SRP was a full circle moment for me as a Duke student and researcher. In high school when I was applying to Duke, I wrote about the SRP in my “Why Duke” essay. The SRP was created to help bridge the divide between academic education researchers and teachers and administrators in the field by creating opportunities for collaborative problem solving and innovation. At the time, I was conducting an independent education project in my AP Research class and was thrilled to see that Duke created opportunities for teachers, school administrators, and other education professionals to engage with research at the University. I never imagined that more than four years later, I would present my own research at this very conference.
In addition to the student poster presentations, this year’s event featured a panel of speakers involved in the development, implementation and evaluation of a teacher professional development program for English as a Second Language and classroom teachers to work together to support English Learners and improve teacher and student outcomes. This research was led by Dr. Leslie Babinski, School Research Partnership Director and Research Professor at the Center for Child and Family Policy who was joined by Dr. Jennifer Mann (Research Scientist, Center for Child and Family Policy), Valeria Murray (ESL Director, Wake County Public School System), and Amanda Berry (ESL Coordinating Teacher, Wake County Public School System). The panelists described the importance of collaboration in strengthening support and long-term success for multi-lingual learners, as well as classroom teachers. The team’s research develops curricula and collaborative strategies to support the implementation of high-impact instruction that facilitates language and literacy skills for English Learners. Given that ESL coordinators are often stretched thin within schools, these interventions seek to provide direct support and training to classroom teachers as well. I was struck by the researchers’ emphasis on educator-driven practices, whereby intervention development is responsive to the experience and feedback of school personnel. The preliminary findings of the research are promising, indicating positive experiences from teachers and students alike.
The SRP puts into practice one of the core ideas of research that can fall to the wayside if not made a priority: connecting research and practice by creating a space for students, researchers, and educational professionals to have discussions about their findings and personal experiences. I left the evening feeling hopeful about the ability of researchers and practitioners to work together to improve educational practices and learning outcomes for students. My experience as a student researcher presenting my findings at the SRP exceeded expectations for what I had imagined those few years ago, when the possibility of being a student researcher at Duke was nothing more than a dream.
Bess Pierre is a senior majoring in Public Policy with a minor in German and a Child Policy Research certificate. She is interested in improving child welfare and education systems through program evaluation and evidence-based implementation.