Supporting the use of findings
How coaching connects evidence to local decisions
Research findings are most valuable when education partners can use them to inform real decisions. Reports, snapshots, and infographics can make findings accessible. However, using applied research evidence often requires conversation and planning. Partners need opportunities to ask: What do these findings mean in our context? Which findings matter most right now? Who needs to understand the results? And what actions should we consider next?
To help answer such questions, and move from evidence to action, the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Pacific offers applied research coaching to its partners. Specifically, REL Pacific’s approach pairs research products with facilitated discussions and planning activities that help partners interpret findings, consider implications, and identify next steps aligned with their local priorities, systems, and timelines.
Research-practice partnerships often use meaning-making conversations to assist people in different roles and with varied perspectives interpret findings together. A REL Northeast & Islands resource on moving from research to practice in research-practice partnerships contains several lessons for engaging multiple perspectives in these conversations. These lessons include identifying whose voices should be included and planning facilitation to support shared interpretation.
REL Pacific applies a similar approach to its work with partners across the Pacific region. Coaching begins with a REL team that, through years of close collaboration, understands the partner’s decisionmaking context: the policies, practices, programs, or planning efforts that the study may inform. From there, REL Pacific develops plain-language products and session materials that make findings easier to discuss across audiences. These products do not replace the full study; instead, they encourage reflection and discussion, helping partners consider what the findings mean for their local context.
The process also supports continuity. The REL team discusses findings with a broader group of partners to ensure that understanding of the results does not rest with current leaders alone. Coaching sessions can also help partners document next steps that can be revisited later, making the work more resilient to staff turnover and leadership changes. In long-term partnerships, this approach enables REL Pacific and its partners to preserve institutional knowledge, revisit evidence as conditions change, and carry forward next steps despite staffing or leadership transitions.
Figure 1. From research findings to partner action
Examples from the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Palau
RMI: Examining English language arts course placement
The College of the Marshall Islands (CMI) English Language Arts (ELA) course placement study examined the college’s revised ELA placement process and how placement measures were related to course performance, course passing, and persistence. REL Pacific also developed an infographic to communicate key findings in a format that partners can use more broadly.
In May 2026, REL Pacific shared the study’s results in separate meetings with CMI’s English faculty, senior leadership, and Public School System’s senior leadership. After discussing the results, CMI decided to continue revising its ELA placement process to better support its students. CMI leadership is also considering ways to place more students directly into credit-bearing courses and is working with the Republic of the Marshall Islands Public School System to support students’ ELA skills while they are still in high school.
Palau: Understanding teacher education graduation patterns
In Palau, REL Pacific’s applied research coaching connected to a study on teacher certification, retention, and recruitment. The study examined graduation patterns among teacher-education 
students at Palau Community College in the context of Palau’s Public Law 10-32. This law requires teachers in Palau to hold an associate’s degree in education or in the subject area they teach.
REL Pacific held the Palau applied research coaching session in March 2026. The session supported partners as they discussed how study findings can inform conversations about teacher preparation, recruitment, retention, and degree completion. This session exemplified how applied research coaching can create space for partners across agencies and institutions, including the Palau Ministry of Education and Palau Community College, to review evidence together and consider implications for the teacher workforce.
Looking ahead: Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Guam
Applying a consistent process as new study findings become available
REL Pacific is applying its coaching approach to additional applied research studies in 2026. This plan includes work connected to the CNMI Tier 2 Interventions study and the Guam Math Coursetaking Pathways study. As these studies have not yet been published, REL Pacific is in the initial planning stage for these sessions.
Questions education leaders can ask
A practical checklist for planning the use of evidence
Figure 2. Questions for planning the use of evidence
Moving findings into practice
Building continuity beyond a single research product
Applied research does not end when findings are published. Findings are most useful when partners have opportunities to understand them, discuss their implications, and connect them to decisions. REL Pacific’s applied research coaching approach supports that connection by pairing research products with facilitated conversations and practical planning. By building broader awareness of findings, and documenting next steps, this approach helps partners use evidence to inform decisions and sustain improvement beyond a single study or publication.
In addition, organizations and partnerships engaged in applied research may benefit from adapting similar approaches to their own contexts. Tailoring one’s approach to local realities ensures that research findings are not only shared but translated into meaningful action through reflective conversation and planning to support decisionmaking and continuous improvement.
