Leadership and Policy Studies: Leading Cmmunty Schl Prtnershp

See Schedule of Courses for specific titles.

Open to Degree and PACE students. Course can be in-person or online synchronous.

School and community partnerships encompass a multitude of formal and informal relationships across educational, medical, and social service organizations. Despite the plethora of collaborative opportunities, these types of partnerships can be difficult to initiate short term, and maintain long-term. The purpose of this course is to explore effective leadership for equitable and sustainable school-community partnerships. We will investigate different kinds of partnerships, such as community outreach (e.g., school-based health care centers), researcher-initiated (e.g., Networked Improvement Communities, Research Practice Partnerships, service learning), cradle-to-career services (e.g., Promise Neighborhoods, extended learning, farm-to-schools, workforce development), inclusion, diversity, and social justice (e.g., community outreach, early interventions, student voice). When possible, classes will include guest speakers and/or site visits. As an applied course, assignments will be student-centered and relevant to professional objectives.

Course Learning Objectives & Pedagogy: The 3 credit, graduate level course has three main learning objectives for students that address theoretical and conceptual knowledge, applied practices, and writing/communication. 1. Students will develop understanding of the theoretical foundations and approaches of leadership for equitable school-community partnerships across the life span. This will include: a. Investigating the philosophy, framework, and goals of different kinds of partnerships, such as community outreach (e.g., school-based health care centers); researcher-initiated (e.g., Networked Improvement Communities, Research Practice Partnerships, service learning); and cradle-to-career services (e.g., Promise Neighborhoods, extended learning, farm-to-schools, workforce development). b. Investigating the dimensions of power, privilege, and culture that explicitly and implicitly influence partnerships, and understand how to design and sustain equitable, inclusive, and diverse partnerships. Students will develop mastery of these concepts through course readings, class discussions, guest speakers and/or site visits, and personal reflections. 2. Students will develop and apply leadership practices to co-construct, facilitate, expand, and refine sustainable, equitable school-community partnerships. Students will develop mastery of these practices through class workshops and assignments. 3. Students will refine practical and academic communication skills to ensure work is accessible to a broad spectrum of participants. Students will refine writing and presenting skills through structured assignments, class presentations, and feedback from faculty.

Assignment 1: Partnership Presentation & Discussion Each student will select a week to A) present an example of a school-community partnership, and B) facilitate a class discussion. A. Presentation: Introduce the partnership to the class. Explain who is involved, the purpose and mission, location, population served, intended outcomes, strengths & challenges, and/or other relevant information. Time: 10 – 12 minutes long, plus 10 minutes for Q & A Format: visual presentation like PowerPoint, Google slides, etc. B. Discussion: Facilitate a class discussion about the case study and the class readings. I recommend preparing questions to guide the conversation, and/or a relevant small group activity. Time: 30 – 45 minutes Assignment 2: Grant Letter of Intent (LOI) Each student will write a one page letter of intent for a grant application. We will use the IES LOI as a template; however, students are encouraged to identify professionally relevant grants for the LOI. The LOI will include: Descriptive title Intro paragraph: Concise overview of the proposal request and the alignment with the grant Second paragraph: Concise description of how your proposal addresses a critical need. This must be grounded in research, so include citations and evidence to support claims. Third paragraph: Concise overview of the grant team that shows relevant expertise and established collaborations. Final lines: proposed timeline or duration of grant, proposed budget request for the grant Assignment 3: Partnership Consultant Guide For this assignment, you will assume the role of a consultant for a community partnership of your choice. Using Epstein’s framework for collaboration (Epstein et al., 2018), you will select two types of collaboration as the focus of your consultant work. You will then develop materials and guides for consultant facilitation with the organization to develop their capacity for the two types of collaboration. The consultant guide will include: 1. Overview of the organization: purpose, collaborators, location, current goals 2. Overview of the two types of collaboration from Epstein’s framework. Explain what each entails, and why you believe each type is relevant as a goal or area of development for the partnership. 3. Explanation of your plan for each half-day workshop: what are you doing? What are your objectives, and how will you know if you meet your goals? Who will be involved? 4. The materials you would need, as a consultant, to facilitate a half-day workshop on the development, improvement, or review for each type of collaboration. Materials could include: detailed meeting agendas, focus group questions, needs assessment guide, equity audit survey or results, asset map survey or results, facilitated activities, lesson plan for professional development, etc. Assignment 4: Full Grant Proposal For the final class assignment, you will develop a grant proposal for a school-community partnership of your choice. The intent of this assignment is to develop and refine professional skills while applying concepts learned over the course of the semester. You will identify a grant opportunity for your chosen school-community partnership. You will then follow the specific grant guidelines to create a full grant proposal, including a budget and timeline. Your grant proposal should align with the submission guide, and must be grounded in research to support your rationale. Class Participation In this class, we will work together to develop a learning community that is inclusive and respectful. As a learning community we will seek to encourage and appreciate expressions of different ideas, opinions, and beliefs in the spirit of Our Common Ground. Meaningful and constructive dialogue is encouraged in this class. This requires mutual respect, willingness to listen, and open-mindedness to opposing points of view. Respect for individual differences and alternative viewpoints will be maintained at all times in this class. Conduct that substantially or repeatedly disrupts the ability of faculty and instructors to teach and the ability of students to engage may result in my asking a student to temporarily leave the classroom. See Catalogue - Classroom Code of Conduct (p. 443-444).”