Below is the text from the Executive Summary from this report. The complete report can be downloaded from the bottom of this page.
Executive Summary
CO-SEED Warren Spring 2008
The overarching pattern found in the evaluation data was the breadth of impact of place-based education (PBE) for all major target audiences. Of particular note was the centrality of improved school-community connections. PBE inspired many new community-related activities, practices, and events. The subsequent effects reported for students, educators, school culture, and the community at large tended to directly relate to school-community interactions. These processes seemed to positively reinforce each other. When asked to specify whether PBE had had the strongest impact on students, teachers, or the community, most interviewees were reluctant to specify one at the expense of the others, further suggesting a more comprehensive and intertwined web of PBE effects at this site.
The primary intended use of this evaluation was to evaluate the impact of the CO-SEED program for the purpose of informing decisions about the future of place-based education in Warren. A secondary intended use was to look at successes and obstacles in CO-SEED implementation. The bulk of the analysis was based upon the following data sources, collected between 2005 and 2008:
· Interviews with 137 educators, community members, CO-SEED program staff, students, and district administrators; and
· 105 surveys received from Warren Community School educators and staff.
This report summarizes findings from these data sources, and offers recommendations for future program refinement and extension.
Findings and Discussion
Five main themes emerged in support of the overarching pattern named above:
Ø Putting the “community” into the Warren Community School
Ø Place-based education beginning to become enmeshed in the school culture
Ø Differentiated Instruction (DI) and Place-Based Education (PBE) went “hand-in-hand”
Ø Student engagement in learning was associated with community connections
Ø Sustainability of place-based education was discussed with some anxiety
The legacy of CO-SEED in Warren was a strengthening of the connection between the school and the community. With the help of CO-SEED, place-based education began to become more integral to how learning happens in Warren.
Recommendations
ü Strengthen opportunities to continue building on school-community connections
ü Build in regular planning time for educators to collaborate on place-based education
ü Establish place-based education as a priority beyond elementary school
ü Engage in a district-wide conversation about the definition and centrality PBE
ü Provide resources for educators less experienced in PBE to start small projects that involve using local resources and the local community
ü Document PBE projects, and recognize and celebrate the efforts of all individuals involved with place-based projects
Summary reflection on the sustainability of PBE at Warren
PBE has taken root in Warren, but the future vigor of PBE is uncertain. The combination of support amongst WCS staff, Warren community members, and SAD40 administrators may actually make the situation ripe for long-term sustainability of PBE if resources and vision emerge to make it so. At the end of the data collection period for this report, there was a decision made to continue the community learning coordinator position for the following year, but with reduced hours so that the coordinator could be available for other schools within the district as well. This decision, which effectively decreases the dose of CO-SEED for the upcoming year, is important in the light of the findings of this report that the Warren school culture was just beginning to show signs of a cultural shift towards having a central focus
on PBE. How much “dose” is necessary to maintain the progress that the CO-SEED program has helped initiate remains an open question.
| 