Alrighty, finally getting around to saying something about my @AERA_EdResearch Communication award. First, as I said yesterday, I really can't think of an award that would mean more to me than this one. I care *so much* about communicating with the public.

When I was maybe a first year professor, I participated in the @EducationGadfly/ @AEIeducation EEPS program (great program btw), and the thing that stuck with me most was @michaelpetrilli and @rickhess99’s admonishment that (paraphrasing) no one reads journal articles.

On the one hand, this is a bit of an overstatement. But on the other hand, it’s true. If you want research to matter, you *can't* just write a journal article, send it into the ether, and wipe your hands for a job well done. That can get you tenure, but it won't get you impact.

Ever since then, I’ve spent every day thinking about how I can make research—mine and others’—more relevant and more likely to be used by policymakers and practitioners. Here are some non-ordered thoughts on this issue:

1) I generally do NOT think everyone should be compelled to do public engagement, etc. People have strengths and weaknesses, and some work is more relevant than others, and people should mostly play to their strengths. I’m better at blog posts than Spencer grants, for instance.

(Side note: self-awareness is very good and very rare - good to figure out what you're good at and what you're not and rack up points on the good stuff.)

2) I DO think the academy should reward different kinds of expertise, and public scholarship is something that should count. Just like it should reward good teaching, and good contributions to theory, and even good administrative skill.

3) I DO think that PhD programs should provide explicit training in nontraditional forms of dissemination/engagement. These are skills that can be taught and acquired, just like any other skills. One-off sessions in a pro-seminar just don’t cut it.

4) I am NOT strategic in how I do Twitter, or really very much in my life. I just do what seems right, take advantage of opportunities that seem good, etc. At this point I do Twitter much more for my personal enjoyment and knowledge than to help my career.

5) In my experience, there is a VERY limited tradeoff between public engagement and the academic stuff that “counts.” For me, I’ve found them to be reinforcing—writing for nonacademic outlets has led to collaborations, journal articles, and even grants—the stuff that DOES count.

6) That said, the academy is just not there yet. You can’t make a career on tweets and blog posts. You’ve gotta do the stuff that does count, and you can’t let the public stuff get in the way of that for you if you want tenure.

I could say a lot more – about interacting with journalists (one of the easiest ways to have an impact) – about making Twitter work to amplify your influence and make the world better (which I am decent at but folks like @dynarski are absolute pros at) …

And about not deriving your sense of self-worth from your perception of your impact – either your academic impact or your impact on the world at large – but those are conversations for another day.

Today, I'm honored and thankful and still can’t believe I stumbled into a job that I’m good at, that I care about, and that matters just a tiny bit in making the world a better place. We should all be so lucky, and we should all work to support others to achieve the same.