Inventory of Higher Ed, K-12 Partnerships Shows Depth, Breadth of Collaboration on Behalf of Rhode Island’s Public Schools
Providence, Rhode Island, March 7, 2008: All eleven of Rhode Island’s institutions of higher education are deeply involved in partnership activity with the state’s elementary, middle and high schools, lending faculty and staff expertise to fiscally-challenged public school districts and providing thousands of hours of student support in classroom and after-school volunteer activity.
The degree and intimacy of involvement was made clear with the release of a preliminary report at a special meeting of the state’s PK-16 Council before a large audience at the Rhode Island Convention Center this morning. The project and report, entitled, “Partnerships for Success: College and PK-12 Activities and Opportunities Across Rhode Island,” was funded by the Rhode Island Foundation, the Rhode Island Commodores, the Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the National Governors Association.
“I have always said that we need our institutions of higher learning to assist us in our ongoing efforts to improve our public schools,” said Governor Donald L. Carcieri.” Partnerships for Success is an important starting point. With this preliminary report, we can now begin a more informed dialogue. We must better focus our efforts and harness all our resources. By working collaboratively, we can find ways to prepare our students for the challenges of college and the workplace. ”
“These partnerships and collaborations are a significant element of the education continuum in Rhode Island,” said Jack R. Warner, Commissioner of Higher Education. “The Governor and the leaders of our educational community are working diligently to ensure that we have a more seamless educational system from Pre-K through postsecondary education. In that regard, I was especially pleased to see the many partnership activities involving dual enrollment and college access and awareness programs. They serve to strengthen our efforts and help steer more Rhode Island students toward a college education and the benefits it brings not only to the student and his or her family but to the state as a whole,” Warner said.
“The comprehensive nature of the engagements outlined in this effort illustrates what can be achieved when true collaboration exists,” said Dr. Irving Schneider, president of Johnson & Wales University. “It is our hope that by building on these achievements — by seeking greater collaboration and efficiency — our institutions of higher education will continue to partner in strengthening the PK-12 system in our state. In doing so we will all benefit; intellectually, economically and culturally. The future of our institutions, our state and its citizens depends on such collaboration and I am confident that the Partnerships for Success examples are the foundation upon which future success can be built,” Dr. Schneider said.
The project grew out of a presentation to the PK-16 Council by Rhode Island School of Design President Roger Mandle last year in response to Governor Carcieri’s call for the state’s colleges and universities to help improve public education in Rhode Island. As a result of President Mandle’s presentation, the Rhode Island Board of Governors for Higher Education (which represents the three public institutions of higher education in the state), the Rhode Island Independent Higher Education Association (which represents the eight private colleges and universities in Rhode Island) and Rhode Island Campus Compact (which provides community service and civic engagement leadership to all 11 institutions of higher education in the state) proposed a systematic documentation of existing collaborative relationships between the higher ed and K-12 systems. The resulting inventory and report are believed to represent the first in-depth report of its kind in the nation. The collective data compiles models of existing programs which can be shared and replicated as well as provide the basis for a set of targeted recommendations that support greater alignment between public school districts and higher education institutions in Rhode Island.
“Rhode Island Campus Compact members are proud to have participated in this effort to give a coordinated view of all of our programs involving students and faculty of our institutions with Rhode Island public schools,” said Roger Mandle, president of Rhode Island School of Design and chairman of Rhode Island Campus Compact. “The list is impressive, and our hope is that it will permit greater coordination and collaboration among us to serve the children in our state’s schools. Through en-lightened self interest, we can help raise the quality of education here, and create a model for businesses and non-governmental organizations to follow, in order to create a picture of all of the services from outside the public schools that help improve education for all our children,” Mandle said.
Data collected through a survey process administered by The Clarendon Group, a Providence-based consultant to the project, documented over 250 partnership activities across Rhode Island involving all eleven institutions of higher education and every single school district in the state. Since only the higher education institutions were surveyed, the data is intended to provide a sense of the activity that is taking place as opposed to representing a comprehensive catalog of that activity.
Such a catalog would have required surveying all of the state’s elementary, middle and high schools as well, something that was beyond the scope, budget and timetable of the project.
The survey highlighted 55 of the 250 partnerships which were self-selected by the institutions. Two partnership case studies ’“ Providence College’s work with the Providence After Schools Alliance, and the University of Rhode Island’s work with Central Falls High School – were spotlighted in greater detail this morning as an example of the type of activity taking place across the state. Rhode Island’s urban communities are well represented in the partnerships with 29 in Providence schools, 12 in Central Falls and 14 in Pawtucket. Many of these partnerships also benefit more than one community. Five are statewide efforts. Providence was the only municipality in the state to benefit from partnerships with all eleven institutions of higher education. The survey showed that all but two elementary schools in the city are involved in some type of partnership activity as well as every middle school with the exception of one. In addition, most Providence high schools have partnerships with several colleges or universities involved at Hope High School and five at Mt. Pleasant High School.
The survey also showed that more than one-half of the 55 highlighted partnerships were initiated by the higher education institutions as opposed to the partner schools, which initiated approximately fifteen percent (15%) of the activities. More than half of the partnerships reported budgets under $25,000. One-quarter said their budgets were greater than $100,000. More than half of the partnerships are funded out of the respective departmental operating budgets of the higher education institutions. Forty percent (40%) reported receiving grant funding.
All of the higher education institutions provide some type of financial support to their PK-12 partnerships. Most provide physical space, materials or technology. Some provide grant-writing support while more than half provide fiscal management. Nearly every partnership involves students and teachers; almost seventy-five percent (75%) also involve school administrators. Forty of the 55 partnerships reported that they measure outcomes and 35 said they reported measurable results, although the standards of measure vary widely depending on the level and scope of the partnerships and the specific activities involved.
The final report of the project will be presented to the PK-16 Council at its June meeting. A data repository for the project at www.PK-16.com will serve as a resource for higher education institutions, superintendents, elementary, middle and high school principals, teachers and the general public to peruse in the hope that some of the ideas will stimulate thinking for additional partnership activity.
