My research focuses on finding ways to improve postsecondary education outcomes for young people with foster care experience. Research is needed to inform policy and practice changes, but unfortunately research is often hard to access for those who need it most. I launched the Four in 4 Project in summer 2023 to make my work more accessible and useful to policymakers, advocates, youth with lived experience, professionals, researchers, and others interested in this work. The initial idea was this: summarize each of my journal articles in a video with 4 slides in about 4 minutes (hence "Four in 4").

 

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On the Journal Articles page, here's what you'll find: 

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4-minute videos. Each video gives you a bird's-eye view of what the article is about and highlights a few key findings. All in four minutes. Short enough to watch while you're in line for coffee. 

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1-page summaries. Each summary provides a little more detail than the video about the article's purpose, research methods, findings, and implications. You can download a copy directly from the site.  

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Request copy of the full articles.  If you are interested in reading the published article, you can request a copy for your personal use. The version of the article that's available depends on the publishing agreement of the journal's publisher. If the 1-page summary is an appetizer, the article is the five-course meal. It tells the full story -- what research on this topic has already been done, what the study seeks to contribute, and a more elaborate and nuanced discussion of the findings. And there's plenty of information about the data and research methods for those who like to geek out about that stuff. 

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On the Research Reports page, here's what you'll find:

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Reports that focus on a specific topic of secondary and postsecondary education for youth with foster care backgrounds. These reports were originally written for practice and policy audiences. There are no 4-minute videos for the reports, but you will find a 1-sentence summary. You can also download the reports.