Leveraging a University to Create Local Opportunities to Learn

• In Event: Research-Practice Partnerships for Educational Transformation: Methodologies for Systemic Educational Transformation: Building Infrastructures for Educational Transformation Through Research-Practice Partnerships

Abstract

Objectives
We contend that universities are underused engines for generating local opportunities to learn (LOTL) in local K12 systems and K20 learning settings. We propose that U.S. universities should support those who work and study on campus to participate in creating necessary LOTL off campus, as well as on campus. Further, we propose that each campus can fund a team of education researchers and expert practitioners to support campus faculty, staff, and students in other disciplines to co-create and spread equity-oriented LOTL. We draw on eight years of leading such work in a campus-funded “CREATE STEM Success Initiative,” sharing general principles to spark dialogue with others implementing related initiatives.

Frameworks
Researchers and advocates argue that as “anchor institutions” that stay local (Porter et al., n.d.; Birch et al., 2013), universities should use their resources for the public good (Marginson, 2014; Camhi, 2013) and specifically for local community benefit (Hatcher et al., 2020), as part of “teaching, research, and public service. . .critical to the well-being of our democratic society” (AAU, 2014). Universities stimulate local employment and commerce (Walshok, 1995); university-based researchers sometimes research issues for/with community partners (e.g. Rogers et al., 2011); some campuseslaunch/formally partner with K12 schools (Mehan et al., 2010; Quartz et al., 2017), fund local student scholarships (Johnson, 2019), and support students to work/serve in local communities. How might universities be leveraged even more fully?

Methods and data sources
The work described is a campus-region RPP involving thousands of people, led by our university Center. In the CSSI, our Center works as a “boundary organization” supporting STEM researchers and students specifically to co-create LOTL desired by local K14 education partners. Our small, campus-funded CSSI team has supported nearly 300 faculty/postdocs to conceptualize and submit outreach/education and broader impact plans; supported over 1000 “service” outreach/education projects; helped campus/community partners write, evaluate, and/or execute nearly 300 grants and funded contracts, bringing over $70M to campus and community partners; assisted efforts reaching over 20,000 students (K20) directly; conducted nearly 100 evaluations of education projects; and helped partners execute hundreds of teacher development efforts.
A process for Local Opportunity to Learn creation


Through ongoing participant-observation with these partners and formal research-evaluation when funded, we have explored how LOTL support teams can help colleagues design equity-oriented LOTL, leveraging a university strategically to fill local education opportunity gaps — and maximize colleagues’ investments in local students and teachers, strengthening the teaching, service, and grant-getting of the university, too.
Results and significance

Education researchers can help push any campus toward a policy of regional LOTL spread, leveraging universities’ resources to strengthen the broader foundation of local K20 teaching and learning. Campuses can fund stable support teams of experienced education researchers and practitioners to help colleagues in other disciplines design locally beneficial outreach and education work.And beyond preparing for the professoriate, more education researchers can be developed and employed to help universities produce equity-oriented LOTL in collaboration with expert practitioners.

Authors

• Susan S. Yonezawa, University of California - San Diego

• Mica Pollock, University of California - San Diego

• Monica Sweet, UC San Diego

• Nan Renner, University of California - San Diego

• Alberto "Beto" Vasquez, University of California - San Diego

• Minhtuyen Mai, University of California - San Diego