REPORT
by Jacob Leos-Urbel and Monika Sanchez
BLOG POST
by Lisa Westrich, Monika Sanchez, and Karen Strobel
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Stanford Public Interest Network (SPIN) Shinnyo Fellows
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Since 2013, the Gardner Center has been fortunate to partner with the Haas Center for Public Service, the Shinnyo-En Foundation, and Redwood City 2020 to support a Stanford Public Interest Network (SPIN) Shinnyo Fellow. We have just bid a fond farewell to our 2015 Fellow, Sophia Colombari Figueroa, and are preparing to greet our 2016 Fellow, Carolina Ornelas. It is a joy to welcome these outstanding postgraduates to the Gardner Center for their one-year fellowship in August; the difficulty is saying goodbye the following June!
The SPIN Fellowship facilitates the placement of graduating seniors in full-time, 12-month paid positions in nonprofit organizations and government agencies primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area. Shinnyo Fellows receive stipends to develop individual student leadership and reflective skills, and to introduce, implement, and/or institutionalize the Foundation's philosophy of peacebuilding through service on their university campuses or in their immediate surrounding communities. Stanford is one of four Universities with Shinnyo Fellows Programs and, in our case, the Foundation's goals are accomplished through the Gardner Center/Haas Center/Redwood City 2020 partnership. Carlo Pasco, the 2013 Shinnyo Fellow, worked primarily on Redwood City 2020's collaborative strategic planning process. This year, Sophia worked with the Gardner Center and Redwood City 2020 to expand two key areas of work: Redwood City's community schools and Socios for Success, a professional development series for administrators, educators, and families to promote family engagement. During their year with us, the Shinnyo Fellow shares his or her reflections with the community via a blog; you can read Sophia's here.
We will miss you Sophia! We wish you all the best in your future endeavors. Carolina, we can't wait to meet you!
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| Research-Practice Partnerships: Sort by Topic Area! |
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Gardner Center in the Field
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At a May 2015 meeting of the YESS Collaborative, Policy Analyst Jamila Henderson presented on the power of data linking. The Gardner Center is 1 of the collaborative's 47 member organizations that are working together to improve outcomes for 0 to 27 year olds in East Palo Alto.
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Professor Daniel Schwartz to lead Stanford Graduate School of Education
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Spotlight on Familias Unidas
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Elvira Garcia, Henry Garcia, Secundino Zuno, Ninfa Zuno, and Kendra Fehrer at the Familias Unidas graduation ceremony on July 9, 2015.
Developed by a a husband-wife team of teachers from Redwood City, Familias Unidas is a culturally responsive family engagement program currently implemented at schools throughout the Bay Area. To date, 500 families have completed the program. Congratulations to Henry Garcia, a recent Stanford graduate, who presented his honors thesis--
a detailed case study of the program--at the event. Henry presented his research to event attendees including graduating families, community leaders, members of the Redwood City School District Board of Directors, school principals, and others. Professors Guadaupe Valdes and Bonnie Katz Tenenbaum of the Stanford Graduate School of Education and Gardner Center Research Associate Kendra Fehrer supported his thesis work.
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Making It All Matter Through Research-Practice Partnerships
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PRUDENCE CARTER
Faculty Director |
Another academic year has come and gone and, upon reflection, I am mindful of all of the effort put into the cultivation of research-based relationships that the Gardner Center has developed with myriad community and national partners over time. I am also aware that research-practice partnerships (RPPs) between university research teams and other organizations focused on education, health, economics, and various other issues have proliferated and gained in significance. Nearly everywhere I venture now as a scholar and researcher, I hear some discussion about their necessity and utility. Many academics have come to realize that we can no longer afford to sit back, talk amongst ourselves, and produce studies and write publications that engage few. Rather, we are motivated to figure out how to make it all matter, how to engage with communities, school districts, service agencies, and others who desire to see our society improve the well-being of all children, youth, and adults.
Research partnerships vary in degree and nature, however. They can be as diverse and different from one another in approaches as religions. The linkages among research, practice, and policy in many RPPs will place more emphasis on one of the dyadic relationships than another (for example, research and practice versus research and policy). For some organizations, the nature of the relationships will differ with the information and findings flowing more in one direction than another. That is, the work might edify either the academic research community or the particular partner organization more so than sustaining a mutual and balanced flow of ideas and sharing. Here, at the Gardner Center, our goal is to maintain that balance; to not only fulfill the goals and needs of our research partners through the generation of new ideas and the production of rigorous empirical research but also to enlighten the academic research community through the production of knowledge yielded from real-world problems.
Like many organizations, we at the Gardner Center are engaged in a strategic planning process which has encouraged us to reflect on our past, present, and future. We are excited by the possibilities of working for the improvement of the lives of children and youth through enhancing our partnerships and conducting research. I have the great fortune to be able to spend the next year thinking through key conceptual issues about the nature of RPPs as I analyze data from federal policymakers and the media about the utility of social science evidence, as it pertains specifically to school and student success.
I am really proud of the work that we conduct at the Gardner Center. Recently, I heard from someone whom I had just met how widely regarded the Gardner Center is in our near-neighbor communities and beyond-thanks to the hard work and engagement of our stellar staff. We value and treasure doing exemplary research and building capacity with our partners. Still, there is always room for growth and improvement. As the faculty director of the Gardner Center, I expect that my investigations into how we make research even more useful and translatable will highlight areas where this organization can continue to flourish and to be impactful. And those prospects excite me!
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Gardner Perspectives on Youth Sector Issues
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| PUTTING EARLY MATH TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INTO THE EQUATION
by Monika Sanchez & Graciela Borsato
Along with the push to expand access to high-quality preschool, there is a growing national trend promoting alignment across the preschool and early elementary grades to ensure a coherent set of learning experiences. We have seen efforts first-hand to enhance the quality of education in the early years and support instructional alignment between preschool and elementary school.
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by Erin Raab
From the Mural Music & Arts Program in its early days to today's work with Art in Action and East Palo Alto's Youth Arts & Music Center Project, the Gardner Center has welcomed the opportunity to partner with young people as creative leaders in their communities. We recognize that high-quality arts programming teaches young people a range of important habits of mind and mindsets.
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by Sophia Colombari Figueroa
As a Stanford Public Interest Network (SPIN) Shinnyo Fellow--working with Redwood City 2020 and the John W. Gardner Center--I have become familiar with the tri-level youth development framework. A holistic or ecological approach is key to advancing equity for young people and the communities in which they live.
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