Post-Secondary Educational Outcomes and Community Engagement in Newark

• In Event: 2481 - Sociology in Practice Settings Symposium Roundtable Session
  In Informal Discussion Roundtable: Table 08. Application Stories

Abstract

Despite recent economic development, Newark, NJ lags behind both the state and nation in educational attainment. About 19 percent of Newark residents hold an associate degree or higher, compared to state and national averages of 45 and 40 percent, respectively. Recent quantitative reports (see Chin et al. 2017) describe successes of neoliberal educational reforms in Newark, while qualitative accounts (e.g. Russakoff 2015) describe the disruption and distrust of the same reforms. Some stakeholders in the city clamor for more educational data, while others are weary of data reports that a) may or may not reflect residents’ lived realities and b) have been used ‘against them’ in the past.

In this setting, the Newark City of Learning Collaborative is conducting a study examining the post-secondary trajectories of Newark High School Students. The goals of the report are to aid the city of Newark in identifying areas of improvement, strength, and success in the city’s post-secondary pipeline; and support efforts in the city to build a college-going culture, ultimately leading to increased levels of college enrollment, persistence, and completion.

The report is planned to be widely disseminated in the Newark community with three major events: 1) Ward roundtables, where major Newark stakeholders (recent high school graduates, teachers, businesses, etc.) will collectively discuss the report’s findings in neighborhood-level conversations; 2) an anchor institution roundtable discussing the report’s implications for future economic development prospects; and 3) in School Board Candidate Forums.

With goals of 2,020 by 2020, 25 by 2025, and return to local control looming, the city has taken strides to improve outcomes for its residents. But how to better integrate residents in future policymaking and not repeat the mistakes of the $100 million Zuckerberg gift? How to incorporate a wide range of voices (e.g. not just the ‘usual suspects’) in discussions of research results? What outcomes should be expected of public events? The presentation will raise these issues, describe the outcomes of the public events, and pose questions about moving forward, continually building and maintaining trust within Newark’s communities.

Author

• Kristi L. Donaldson, Rutgers University-Newark