![The Forward Society (FOS) Lab launches on November 30, 2023.](https://newsletter.economics.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/FOS-Banner-1024x356.jpeg)
![Photograph of Professor Gustavo J. Bobonis of the Department of Economics and one of J-PAL North America's inaugural Evidence Champions.](https://newsletter.economics.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/Gustavo_Evidence-Champion.jpeg)
Where educational challenges can seem like overwhelming barriers, Gustavo J. Bobonis finds opportunities to move forward. Bobonis, Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Toronto, and his team have a research-practice partnership with the Puerto Rico Department of Education (PRDE). Together, they are working to address the unique concerns of Puerto Rico’s students and educators by creating an institutional culture based on data-driven experimentation, identifying what works locally, and setting the stage for evidence-based policymaking.
For Bobonis, there are two questions at the core of the pursuit and maintenance of research-practice partnerships. “How can we elevate the key role of implementing partners and their work in an evaluation process – and how can we effectively engage researchers deeply committed to the beneficiaries served by implementing partners in crafting real-world solutions?” [Read more…]