Decisions: Tradition Vs. Research

At a recent meeting of a committee I am chairing, we were discussing what would be the best program to challenge our academically talented students.  And then I opened Pandora's Box.
I brought research.
This committee is made of parents and educators, and when you have that mix of experiences, you must educate everyone. That's why I brought my research with me on the topic, using meta-analyses and effect sizes and descriptions of what works and what doesn't. What the research said was that the self-contained model we used in the past didn't work as well for academically talented students as other strategies, such as subject-based acceleration or performance grouping.  It's not that a self-contained model didn't work - it's just that other strategies worked better.
And that's when people's experiences from the past got in the way, arguing for what we used to do for these select group of students. So what do you do when the research you present doesn't jibe with what people want to do based on their own feelings, experiences, and biases?  What do you do when you get statements that say we should do what we did in the past, even though they have research in front of them that states what we did in the past isn't as impactful on learning as other options?
What do you do when people want to go with what they know rather than what they know is better for students?
I don't have an answer for that, other than keep hammering away about what research says works. However, I know that now that the information about what works is out there.  And how can we justify to our community doing something that we know isn't as good for kids as something else?  
​When it comes to decisions, I come down on the side of research and students every single time.