CADRE

Fostering Knowledge Use in STEM Education through

R&D Partnerships with Districts and Schools

Presented by a CADRE Work Group

CADRE

Work Group MembersPresenting:

• David Barnes• Gary Benenson• Loretta Heuer• Mary Hobbs• Cathy Kinzer• Derek Riley• Karin Wiburg

• Karen King• Mimi Recker• Catherine Schifter• Brenda Turnbull

CADRE

Overview

Work Group on Partnerships with Districts and Schools for Knowledge Use

– Purpose

– Process

– Product“Fostering Knowledge Use in STEM Education: A Brief on R&D Partnerships with Districts and Schools”

CADREWhy Partnerships with Districts

and Schools?• Makes sense

• Genuine problems of practice -Pasteur’s Quadrant

• Complexity of education/research

• Makes a difference

CADREChallenges in Planning Partnerships

(and a brief survival guide)

- Understanding institutional differences

- Developing shared understandings and commitments related to project goals

- Building upon each partner’s strengths

- Honing realistic expectations within constraints

CADRE

Launching a Partnership A. Assessing an Organization’s Readiness for Change (Likert Scale) Step 1- Elements of current organizational climateThere is dissatisfaction with the status quo related to the area of proposed change.

There is organizational support for the people who will be doing the change. Step 2 – “Fit” of proposed change into current organizationThe proposed change is better than what is there now.The complexity of the change is compatible with what is already done in the

organization.

B. Indicators of Sustained Change People expect that the use of the innovation will be continued in the organization

Source: Lesson Study Communities, Wiburg & Brown, Corwin Press p. 44-46

CADRE

Launching a Partnership

Critical elements in developing a shared vision and an action plan:a) Does infrastructure include structures, policies and processes that will support the proposed action plan?

b) Are there feedback loops to support continuous adjustment to meet goals?

CADRE

Elements of Successful and Sustainable Change in a District (research-based model in two districts)

fiveyears).

Source: NSF # 0733690 – SUMA: Scaling Up Math Achievement

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Launching a Partnership

• Can you suggest additional elements critical to launching a partnership?

• How have you gotten buy-in for your partnerships?

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Working in Genuine Partnership

• Recognize teachers and administrators as essential contributors to the project

• Demystify the research process• Stay alert and communicate often• Be available after the project ends

CADRE

Working in Genuine Partnership

• What can we do operationally that leads to mutual trust and optimal use of divergent expertise?

• What specifically do genuine partnerships with teachers look like? With districts?

CADRE

Sustainability & Scale• Timeline:

– Before, During, Afterwards

• “Selling” Sustainability– Which Voice? Practitioner? Researcher? Both?

• Scaling Up– Releasing the Work

• Implementation, Facilitator Training

– Dealing w/Unexpected Success

• Sustainability & Scale? In your Proposal!

CADRE

Sustainability & Scale

• How can your partnerships contribute to scale-up and sustainability?– How do you plan for that?

• Is sustaining a school-based project enough?– If not, how can you plan for scale-up?

• How big/fast a scale-up do you envision?– How can you plan not only for that level of scale-

up, but for unexpected success?

CADRE

Reflections and Future Directions

• Insights and Observations

• What are promising directions for the STEM education R&D field in terms of relationships with practitioners?

• Are there key areas of need?

CADRE

Find:

“Fostering Knowledge Use in STEM Education: A Brief on R&D Partnerships with Districts and Schools”

on the CADRE website at http://cadrek12.org