USM K-16 Framework: Opportunities for New Faculty Identities

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USM K-16 Framework Opportunities for New Faculty
Identities

• Making the walls between campus and community
  more permeable

American Association of Colleges and
Universities Faculty Work and The New
Academy Presenters Lynn Harbinson, Emc²
Project Manager Dewayne Morgan, Research
Analyst Danielle Susskind, Research Associate
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USM Policy on Faculty K-16 Engagement

• The assessment of teaching, research/scholarship/
  creative activities, and service during the
  promotion and tenure process shall give
  appropriate recognition, consistent with the
  institution's mission, to faculty accomplishments
  that are collaborative, interdisciplinary, and
  inter-institutional and to faculty innovations in
  areas such as undergraduate education,
  minority-achievement programs, K-16 curriculum
  development, and technology-enhanced learning.

Board of Regents Bylaws, Procedures, and Policies
II - 1.00 UNIVERSITY SYSTEM POLICY ON
APPOINTMENT, RANK, AND TENURE OF FACULTY
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What is P-16?

• Seamless educational alignment from kindergarten
  through college
• Raising standards and expectations for both
  students and teachers
• Collaboration among diverse educational segments
  and with the larger community to improve student
  learning outcomes

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Why P-16 Partnerships?

• The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
• Aristotle
• Metaphysica, 3-1078b

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Building P-20 Partnerships

• Prince Georges Public Schools is the 18th
  largest school system in the US and second
  largest in the state
• Over 137,000 students and 200 schools
• At the beginning of the project, teacher
  retention was below 50 after two years

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Addressing Challenges How to...

• Improve teacher retention in the county schools
• Recruit more high quality science and mathematics
  teachers for county schools
• Establish more sustainable partnerships through
  PDSs in Prince Georges County

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Partnering for Change

• University System of Maryland
• Prince Georges County Public Schools
• University of Maryland College Park
• Towson University
• Bowie State University
• Prince Georges Community College
• Maryland Business Round Table

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Faculty Roles in Project LINC
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Faculty Fellows

• Joseph Topping Analytical Chemistry
• Susie Feldman
• Cell Biologist
• Jennifer Scott Astronomist
• Phuoc Ha
• Particle Physicist

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Vertically Integrated Partnerships K-16 (VIP
K-16)

• 7.5-million, 5-year Math and Science Partnership
  grant of the National Science Foundation.
• Designed to bring inquiry science instruction to
  high-school and university students. Partners
  include
• 1 public school system, 1 community college, and
  7 USM IHEs
• Goals
• Develop a sustainable learning community
• Enrich science teacher knowledge
• Engage college faculty in enriching their
  teaching and pedagogy

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VIP K-16 Activities Involving IHE Faculty

• Course Redesign
• Summer internships for HS teachers to work with
  IHE faculty
• Professional learning communities
• Dissemination of their results to the P-16
  Community

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VIP K-16 Challenges to Faculty Engagement

• Different cultures among schools and universities
• Geography- distance between institutions and
  school system
• Little knowledge of educational research among
  Master Science Teachers, faculty fellows, and
  project staff
• Systemic barriers to change instructional
  practices
• Publish or perish-strong pressure to do research

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CASHÉ Change and Sustainability in Higher
Education

• A three-year study that seeks to document
  curriculum transformation, faculty engagement,
  and sustainable change among higher education
  institutions involved in NSF Math and Science
  Partnership (MSP) Projects.

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CASHÉ Goals

• Discover how MSPs have changed undergraduate STEM
  education and teacher preparation at
  participating higher education institutions
• Identify what strategies MSPs have used to engage
  faculty in these change initiatives
• Assess the impact (if any) that MSPs have had on
  campus culture, policies, and priorities in such
  areas as hiring, promotion and tenure, faculty
  advancement, faculty development, and rewards
  structures

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Discussion Questions

• Primary Questions
• How do faculty communities view partnerships with
  the K-12 community? Are they programs of
  scholarship or community service?
• In your experiences, what types of incentives are
  institutions using to encourage and reward
  higher education faculty involvement in P-16
  initiatives? 
• Which appear to be the most effective in terms of
  numbers of faculty involved and depth of
  engagement and participation?

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Discussion Questions

• To what extent has your institution created or
  adopted some form of the "community of practice"
  model to engage higher education faculty in P-16
  activities? 
• How are these communities structured and
  defined? 
• How do these communities contribute to and
  support broader institutional objectives?
• Have faculty in certain disciplines at your
  institution been able to make more headway than
  others through their involvement in P-16
  initiatives? 
• If so, what internal and external factors
  account for these differences?

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Conversation Points
To what extent has your institution created or
adopted some form of the "community of practice"
model to engage higher education faculty in P-16
activities?  How are these communities structured
and defined?  How do these communities
contribute to and support broader institutional
objectives?
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CONTACT INFORMATION

• Lynn Harbinson, Emc² Project Manager, University
  System of Maryland, lharbinson_at_usmd.edu
• Dewayne Morgan, Research Analyst, University
  System of Maryland, dmorgan_at_usmd.edu
• Danielle Susskind, P-20 Project Specialist,
  University System of Maryland, dsusskind_at_usmd.edu