Investigating K-12/University Partnerships: A Case Study Analysis

1. Investigating K-12/University Partnerships: A Case Study Analysis Zulma Y. Méndez, Ph.D. Rodolfo Rincones, Ph.D. College of Education Department of Educational Leadership & Foundations Center for Research on Educational Reform UTEP Research Conference, April 3-4, 2008

2. Contact Information:Dr. Zulma Y. MéndezCOE-EDLF, Rm. 504747- 7594zmendez@utep.eduDr. Rodolfo Rincones COE-EDLF, Rm. 501-C747- 7614rrincones@utep.eduThis research was made possible with an MSP grant and funding from the National Science Foundation (EHR-0227124).

3. Research Questions General Research Question: How K-12/University partnerships unfold in practice? How MSP sought to promote collaborations towards enhancing teacher quality, quantity, and diversity, as well as challenging courses and school curricula that fosters and improves student achievement? Related Research Questions: To what extent are STEM faculty engaged in (a) pre-service and graduate teacher education and (b) K-12 science and mathematics education? What University-K-12 partnerships mean for university faculty who participate in them, and for the university academic units that support such collaborations?

4. Research Design and Methods • Case study using a mixed-methods approach. • Quantitative Data: • STEM Faculty Survey: 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008 (in progress). • Descriptive statistics. • Qualitative Data: • Open-ended questions in STEM Faculty Survey. • Semi-structured interviews with STEM faculty and College and University administrators. • Interpretive Analysis.

5. Engagement in Pre-service & Graduate Teacher Education

6. Work in K-12 Schools

7. Faculty Expectations, Preferences, and Time

8. Participants’ Perceptions Concerning Work with Schools “I view math/science education as a continuum between K-12 and post-graduate studies. Whatever we can do to enhance K-12 helps everyone and benefits our programs at the university level.” “Involvement with K-12 schools is very important to science disciplines, especially because of the decrease in numbers of science teachers in general.” “Improvement of our college graduates needs to start by better preparation of students in K-12 -which starts with better preparation of their teachers.” “Any of these activities support relevant research.”

9. Participants Perceptions on How Involvement with Schools Should be Recognized • “As a state funded institution, we owe this involvement to the community, and recognition encourages this participation. Because involvement in K-12 schools often has a big impact on preparation of students enrolled at [our university], a sacrifice is made of time that could have been spent on research. [Our university] rewards publications, grants, and the push ha[s] gotten even stronger for faculty to spend more time on research and proposal writing. So, if [our university] wants faculty members involved, then they need to recognize this work.” • “The current load for teaching, research, committee work is already heavy given the developing infrastructure [at UTEP] for research and the special needs of our students in their regular coursework, for example, extra office hours, encouragement, and gaps in background.” • “Faculty should not be placed under constraints to do and perform some tasks repeatedly, then find out that what they are being asked to do has nothing to do with the university’s reward system!” • “It seems to me that only publishing and grants will gain me tenure. Any work I do in the schools is seen as ‘outreach.’” • “Although a full professor, I do not sense that my colleagues in my department who may evaluate me would value K-12 activities.” • “As a new assistant professor, I would prefer to be involved more in my teaching and research than in K-12 schools.”

10. Implications for a Future Research Agenda focused on K-12/University Partnerships -The survey responses in our study raise intriguing questions about K-12/University partnerships. -The process by which schools and universities can efficaciously partner to strengthen the educational enterprise is not well understood, but is of critical importance. -Further research focusing on the processes by which partnerships evolve in practice is critical (Clifford and Millar, 2007). -Through the study of inputs or treatments as actually delivered it is possible to identify what works; but most importantly, how particular outcomes are produced. -Partnerships, in general, surface as a complex initiatives to study, rather than just straightforward interventions to implement.

11. Thank you!