Collective Action: How a Strategic HBCU-PWI Partnership Transforms Science Teaching and Learning in Rural States

• In Event: Science Curriculum and Policy in the Rural South

Abstract

In 2018, Allen and Lester published a piece in the popular magazine Diverse Issues in Higher Education entitled “PWIs and HBCUs Need to Create Partnerships, Not Competition.” While the authors’ article focused on how Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominately White Institutions (PWIs) should work together to support students of color to obtain undergraduate and graduate degrees, their piece also serves as a clarion call for research partnerships to be developed between the two types of institutions.

Only a small body of literature has been dedicated to examining how HBCUs and PWIs forge partnerships to accomplish specific goals (Williams et al., 2011; Warren et al., 2019; Goines et al, 2020). In fact, most of the research focused on HBCUs and PWIs collaborations have been in areas other than P-12 education, such as healthcare and medicine (Warren et al., 2019; Goines et al., 2020). Furthermore, these forged partnerships have little or nothing to do with tackling the challenges related to teaching and learning in P-12 science classrooms.

This paper documents how two Historically Black Colleges and Universities have joined forces with a Predominately White Institution to promote equitable access to culturally responsive science curricula to students and teachers in rural states through a grant-funded project. The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed account of the process of creating and sustaining a “true partnership” and will provide suggestions for forging such partnerships when planning for the success of a large-scale project. Lessons learned from the first year of the project will also be discussed.

Authors

• Samantha L. Strachan, Alabama A&M University

• Lena J. Walton, Alabama A&M University

• Randy Barbour, Alabama A&M University

• Denise Terry Johnson, Winston-Salem State University