AM-ME: Plan to Share Findings

Choose audiences to share findings  

Each year, we engaged the AM-ME Research Group in structured activities to determine the audiences they wanted to prioritize for sharing findings. The group selected a range of audiences including students, teachers, school administrators, district administrators, and broader community members. In addition to local dissemination, the AM-ME Research Group agreed to share findings nationally with research and practitioner audiences. 

Decide how to share findings 

Following audience selection, we facilitated activities to support the AM-ME Research Group in determining how to share findings with each audience. Dissemination strategies varied based on the needs and preferences of each audience. Findings were shared through multimedia blogs, infographics, professional development trainings, conference presentations, and journal articles. The goal was to match dissemination formats with audience accessibility and maximize the practical use of the findings across education and research communities.  

To ensure national reach, we decided to post and promote all dissemination products on the AM-ME project page on the Child Trends website. To engage local audiences, we distributed products through district and school communication channels. 

Develop materials to share findings 

While decisions about audiences and dissemination methods were made collaboratively, researchers within the AM-ME Research Group were primarily responsible for developing the dissemination products, given their dedicated time and technical writing expertise for multiple audiences. Students and teachers actively contributed by identifying the key findings they wanted to elevate and by participating in multimedia dissemination activities, such as recording audio clips and videos. This co-creation approach ensured that materials authentically reflected the voices and experiences of those most impacted by the work, while leveraging researchers' time to produce written products.  

All AM-ME Research Group members reviewed dissemination products prior to release and were credited as authors. The decision to credit all AM-ME Research Group members as authors was made by the research team prior to the project’s launch and included in the contracts for student and teacher members. When the project began, we confirmed this approach with student and teacher members, who agreed to be credited. For each dissemination product, we reconfirmed their willingness to be listed as authors. At the conclusion of the project, we asked all members to provide final confirmation of their authorship across all products.