Why get the SPIRIT? Outreach Partnerships to Improve Student Achievement in High Need School Districts

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Why get the SPIRIT?Outreach Partnerships to
Improve Student Achievement in High Need School
Districts
Tom Babayan, SPIRIT Program Coordinator, UC
Irvine Libraries Stephanie Davis-Kahl, Public
Services Librarian, Illinois Wesleyan
University Cathy Palmer, Head, Education
Outreach Dept., UC Irvine Libraries Association
of College Research Libraries National
Conference, Minneapolis April 9, 2005
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Trends in Education

• Boyer Report (1998)
• Focused attention on undergraduate education in
  distinct areas
• Stanford Bridge Project (2001)
• Highlighted need for connections between
  educational systems
• No Child Left Behind National Science
  Foundation partnership (2002 -gt)
• National effort to unite activities of higher
  education, school systems in support of
  preK-12 students and teachers.

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Initiatives from Librarianship

• My High School Student is Your First Year
  College Student presentations
• Academic Library Outreach Discussion Group
  (ALOUD)
• http//www.iwu.edu/sdaviska/aloud

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UC Irvine

• Strong tradition of outreach in UC system, at UCI
  within libraries
• Center for Educational Partnerships
• School University Partnership Grants
• NSF Math Science Partnership Grant
• FOCUS! Program
• Compton Unified School District Contract

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UC Irvine Libraries

• Dept. of Education Outreach Mission
• Addresses student learning developmentally and
  sequentially as appropriate to the student's
  level and discipline in order to build
  information literacy and life-long learning
  skills.
• Provides a variety of venues, modes,
  opportunities, and activities in order to
  recognize and accommodate different learning
  styles and capitalize on the teachable moment.
• Actively seeks and responds to outreach
  opportunities in order to have a positive
  influence on the academic careers of students.

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SPIRIT Mission

• SPIRIT seeks to
• Teach information literacy and life-long learning
  skills to high school students and teachers,
  increasing student understanding and confidence
  in their ability to locate and use information
  appropriately
• Facilitate student and teacher access to, and use
  of, scholarly electronic resources
• Assist students in becoming eligible and
  competitive to enroll at the University of
  California, to thrive academically while there,
  and to graduate.

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Outreach Programs

• School Partnerships in Research
• Information Technology (SPIRIT)
• Faculty Outreach Collaborations Uniting
  Scientists, Students and Schools (FOCUS)
• Funded by NSF/Math Science Partnership Grant
• Compton Teachers Information Literacy Institute
  (CTILI)
• Funded through No Child Left Behind Act

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UCI Libraries Outreach Approach

• Engage in new or different research experience
• Customize to meet California State Educational
  Standards
• Focus on Information Literacy Skills Concepts
• Foster connections partnerships within campus
  and beyond
• Advocate for pre-college users

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How SPIRIT Works With Students

• SPIRIT Team members discuss topics, assignments,
  desired outcomes and logistics with interested
  school teachers
• Research is integrated into the class assigned
  curriculum.
• Pre and post activities are planned.

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UCI SPIRIT Student Visits

• Research skills session
• 90 minutes - 2 hours
• Instruction
• Research Time
• Presentation Preparation
• Student Presentations
• Evaluations
• Lunch at residential dining hall
• Hands on learning activity

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Assessment

• Qualitative feedback from both teachers and
  students
• Quantitative feedback includes students plans
  for college and ethnic background

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SPIRIT Student Feedback

• Student comments
• Liked Best The part in which we were welcomed
  to ask questions about anything
• Liked Least The part in which we had to present
  in our own words - I liked the research part
• Improve Session For me to eat breakfast before.

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Teacher/Librarian Feedback

• Santiago HS Teacher
• Comments Excellent workshop - my students
  actually got valuable info and some will be back
  to dig deeper. NOT just an oooh-ahhh show.
• Santa Ana HS Librarian
• Most useful The students doing hands-on
  research.
• Comments SPIRIT Program is an excellent
  opportunity for high school students.

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How TILI Work
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Future Improvements

• Further assess program's impact
• Pre/Post tests capturing the programs impact
  on student perceptions concerning the study of
  math and science at the college level
• Expansion of pre/post activities that support the
  research sessions goals
• Strengthen and increase partnerships

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Get Your Own SPIRIT

• Where are you on the Outreach continuum?
• Resources
• Partners
• Where do you go want to go from here?
• How are you going to get there?

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Readings Resources

• Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in
  the Research University. (1998) Reinventing
  Undergraduate Education A Blueprint for
  Americas Research Universities. Online
  http//naples.cc.sunysb.edu/Pres/boyer.nsf/.
  Accessed March 28, 2005.
• Faculty Outreach Collaborations Uniting
  Scientists, Students and Schools (FOCUS!).
  Online http//focus.web.uci.edu/. Accessed
  April 6, 2005.
• Kirst, Michael et al. (2003) Betraying the
  College Dream How Disconnected K-12 and
  Postsecondary Education Systems Undermine Student
  Aspirations. Online http//www.stanford.edu/grou
  p/bridgeproject/. Accessed March 28, 2005.
• National Science Foundation. (2002) Math and
  Science Partnership. Online http//www.nsf.gov/
  od/lpa/news/02/fsmathscipart.htm. Accessed March
  28, 2005.

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For More Information About SPIRIT

• Contacts
• Tom Babayan, tbabayan_at_uci.edu
• Cathy Palmer, cpalmer_at_uci.edu
• Stephanie Davis-Kahl, sdaviska_at_iwu.edu
• Visit our web pages
• http//course.lib.uci.edu/ed/outreach/spirit/

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Download Presentation and Handouts

• https//webfiles.uci.edu/xythoswfs/webui/cpalmer