Research

Apply Now: A new data science training program to advance educational research and practice

alxbclrk@washington.edu — Wed, 22 Nov 2023 01:30:53 +0000

Apply Now: A new data science training program to advance educational research and practice

August 7, 2023

With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in all aspects of society, there has been an increasing talent gap in AI machine learning, especially within data science in education. Through a collaboration between the UW ��ߺ��, the UW eScience Institute and faculty from other higher education institutions including the University of Oregon and the University of Maryland, a training program called Innovation Science for Education Analytics (ISEA) will launch in January 2024 thanks to a 3-year grant from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).

The current use of education technologies is generating large quantities of data at an unprecedented speed. These data are largely unstructured or noisy, meaning they are not arranged according to a preset data model or have many complicated attributes, which will make these data difficult to use with conventional analytic tools and techniques.

This new training program will prepare education researchers to use advanced supervised and unsupervised machine learning and natural language processing methods, along with human coding, to extract meaningful insights from education data. Program trainers will also address data ethics and professionalism. The program will recruit cohorts of 15 to 20 participants per year for three years (50-60 participants total) for an intensive 7-month training that includes 15 weeks of online, webinar-based learning, a 1-week in-person workshop at the ��ߺ�� – Seattle campus and continuous virtual mentoring from the project team.

The training is recruiting education researchers, school district data analysts and education technology employees who have some background in statistics. Graduate students, post-doctoral students, early career researchers and assistant professors who are interested in deepening their knowledge of engineering and machine learning, specifically for education data science, are encouraged to apply. District and state data scientists as well as professionals who want to begin their careers in education technology are also encouraged to apply.

To apply, please visit: /isea

Learn more about the ISEA training program from Dr. Min Sun, professor in the UW ��ߺ�� and principal investigator for the project.

Why is this data science training program needed now?

ISEA is actively working to address the talent shortage in the exciting age of AI and big data in education. It's long been known that education systems gather lots of detailed, long-term data on student traits, learning outcomes, teacher demographics and school finance. However, the recent rise in big data brings an explosion of unstructured, messy data, such as digital learning materials (text, videos, images), social media chatter and e-learning platform usage patterns. Traditional tools and methods aren't built to handle this kind of data, so to unearth valuable insights and fuel data-driven practice, we need to turn to modern data science methods like machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP).

Our goal is to nurture skills in three crucial areas:

K-12 data analysis: With schools increasingly leaning on AI and machine learning services from vendors like PowerSchool, Panorama Education, BrightBytes and Khan Academy, it's vital that they understand the basics of data science. This knowledge allows them to weigh the pros and cons of using computational analytics for evidence-based resource allocation and real-time interventions (such as adaptive learning and online tutoring). It's also crucial for sifting through the data to draw valuable, context-specific insights.
Educational research: There are numerous fundamental methodological issues and deep-seated questions regarding the impact of ML and AI applications in education. We need researchers in higher institutions who can address these issues head-on.
Education technology (EdTech): For ML/AI products to genuinely aid student learning, innovation in EdTech firms must be rooted in educational domain knowledge - think curriculum and instruction, learning science and child development, as well as understanding school systems and administration.

Our training program is designed to serve these needs, offering a fresh talent pool to EdTech firms, school districts and research institutions. These individuals will possess integrated expertise in engineering, statistics and education, enabling them to address K-12 specific needs and understand the ethical considerations of data use.

Are there misconceptions or misunderstandings about AI and machine learning that you hope to combat with this training program?

Absolutely, there are misconceptions about AI and ML that we aim to address through our training program.

One common misunderstanding is that AI/ML are sort of magic boxes - you feed in data and out comes perfect insights. These tools require careful management and understanding. The algorithms they use are only as good as the data they're trained on, and their results need to be interpreted using education domain knowledge. If the data is biased, the outcomes can be too. This is why we place a strong emphasis on teaching the basics of data science, to equip individuals with the ability to critically analyze and understand the data they're working with. This is also why we emphasize using educational domain knowledge to inform data analytic and data interpretation.

Another misconception is that AI and machine learning can replace human decision-making in education. While these technologies can certainly assist in decision-making by providing valuable insights, they don't replace the need for experienced educators and administrators who understand the unique needs and context of their students and schools. AI and ML should be seen as tools to support and enhance human decision-making, not replace it.

Lastly, there's often a lack of understanding about the ethical considerations related to AI and big data in education. Issues such as data privacy and the potential for algorithmic bias are incredibly important. Part of our training program is focused on ensuring our students understand these data ethics considerations.

By addressing these misconceptions through our training program, we hope to help create a workforce that is not only technically skilled, but also thoughtful and ethical in its application.

Why is the collaboration with different departments and education institutions for this training program crucial for its success?

Great question! The collaboration with different departments like the ��ߺ�� and the eScience Institute, along with sectors like K-12 schools, higher education, and EdTech, is essential to the success of this training program.

First, each of these departments and sectors brings unique expertise and perspectives to the table. The ��ߺ�� has deep insights into the theories and practices of teaching and learning, while the eScience Institute brings in the technical know-how around AI, machine learning, and big data. The collaboration of these diverse fields enhances the richness and comprehensiveness of the training program.

Second, in terms of sectors, K-12 schools are where a lot of the data comes from and where the applied work is being done. Higher education institutions are not only sources of research and thought leadership, but they also provide a direct link to up-and-coming talent entering the field. And EdTech companies create most of the cutting-edge technology applications in education, distribute them to schools. Involving representatives from each of these sectors ensures the program stays grounded in real-world needs and challenges while staying abreast of the latest advancements.

Finally, we hope this multidisciplinary, multi-sector collaboration can serve as a national model for data science training in education. The future of educational big data and AI will inevitably involve collaboration across fields and sectors. By embedding this in our training, we are preparing our students for the real-world dynamics they'll encounter in their careers.

What do you hope participants will walk away with at the end of the program?

At the end of the program, the number one thing we hope our participants will walk away with is an integrated understanding of AI, machine learning and data science as it applies to the field of education.

We want them to not only be adept at the technical aspects of handling big data and utilizing AI tools, but also to fully grasp the unique context of educational systems and the ethical considerations surrounding data use. We aim for our participants to understand how these advanced tools can be applied to real-world educational challenges to enhance learning outcomes and support school improvements.

Acknowledgements

PI and Co-PIs

Dr. Min Sun (PI), professor in the UW ��ߺ��
Dr. Lovenoor Aulck (Co-PI and managing director of ISEA), data scientist at the UW Provost’s Office and affiliate faculty at the UW Information School
Dr. Sarah Stone (Co-PI), executive director of the UW eScience Institute
Dr. David A. C. Beck (Co-PI), director of education and research at the UW eScience Institute, director of the UW Scientific Software Engineering Center and research associate professor in engineering
Dr. Patrick C. Kennedy (Co-PI), senior research associate in teaching and learning, University of Oregon

Expert Faculty

Expert faculty will instruct individual webinar sessions pertaining to their interests and expertise, mentor fellows on their projects and engage in generative discussions.

Dr. Jing Liu, assistant professor, University of Maryland
Dr. David Knight, associate professor, UW ��ߺ��
Dr. Wei Ai, assistant professor, University of Maryland
Dr. Christopher Candelaria, assistant professor, Vanderbilt

Advisory Board

We have recruited renowned scholars in education data analytics and industry leaders in K-12 and EdTech to guide the ISEA training and advise on program design, evaluate program success and offer suggestions for improvement.

Dr. Susanna Loeb, director of the Annenberg Institute at Brown University and a member of the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Dr. Zachary Pardos, associate professor of education at University of California - Berkeley
Mr. Adam Geller, founder and CEO of Edthena
Dr. Lief Esbenshade, senior product analyst with Google Education
Dr. Eric Anderson, director of research and evaluation at Seattle Public Schools
Dr. Kristin Tolle, former director of Data Science Initiative in Microsoft Research

Contact

Min Sun

Professor

misun@uw.edu

Research team led by Professor Min Sun wins $1.5 million NSF grant

alxbclrk@washington.edu — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 22:26:02 +0000

Research team led by Professor Min Sun wins $1.5 million NSF grant

August 31, 2023

An innovative new project that leverages machine learning to assess mathematics lesson plan quality in the middle grades has been selected by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to receive a $1.5 million grant. Through this project, a cross-university research team led by principal investigator Dr. Min Sun of the ��ߺ�� ߺ�� will identify ways to measure the quality of large quantities of open-source mathematics lesson plans using an integration of cutting-edge machine learning techniques, knowledge of effective mathematics education and human feedback.

As online instructional materials continue to proliferate, schools and educators are increasingly relying on them for lesson planning, underscoring the need to evaluate the quality of these materials. Planning and selecting instructional materials are among the most complex and important components of mathematics teaching, and this project aims to make it easier for middle school mathematics teachers to design lesson plans that are effective and support positive learning outcomes for students.

[W]e are addressing equity issues because junior teachers spend more time on lesson planning, as do teachers serving historically marginalized students and communities.
-Dr. Min Sun, UW ��ߺ��

“This project will democratize access to quality, inclusive and tailored learning materials that benefit students and support their teachers’ planning processes,” Dr. Sun shares.

“Beyond scientific contributions, we are addressing equity issues because junior teachers spend more time on lesson planning, as do teachers serving historically marginalized students and communities,” she elaborates. “It’s critical that teachers’ lesson plans, especially in mathematics instruction, effectively supports students with a wide range of academic performance levels, language and cultural backgrounds.”

Teachers are increasingly turning to online platforms and social media sites to supplement their district curricula, either for content enrichment or to make lessons more interactive and culturally relevant. Research reveals that a vast majority of teachers use search engines like Google and platforms like TeachersPayTeachers and Pinterest to source lesson materials. With the rise of ChatGPT, a recent survey conducted by the Walton Family Foundation shows that 40% of teachers use ChatGPT on a weekly basis for tasks such as lesson planning and building background knowledge for lessons. This increasing shift towards digital resources is also supported by the burgeoning movement of Open Education Resources (OER) under the Creative Commons License. This movement is backed by state agencies, including in Washington state, prominent non-profit organizations and even district or university initiatives. Consequently, many school districts nationwide have chosen OER materials as their primary curricula. These shifts highlight the importance of developing a quality checker of online content to better support teachers and student learning outcomes.

A big promise of AI is that it will help relieve teachers from many routine tasks, including lesson planning, so they can spend more time working with students.
-Dr. Jing Liu, University of Maryland ��ߺ��

“Lesson planning is a critical yet not well-studied component of teaching,” says Dr. Jing Liu of the University of Maryland School of Education and a co-principal investigator of this project. “Despite their busy schedules, teachers spend a lot of time developing their lesson plans, but there is little guidance on how to evaluate and identify high-quality lesson plans. A big promise of AI is that it will help relieve teachers from many routine tasks, including lesson planning, so they can spend more time working with students.”

“Importantly, teachers’ input and voices are centered in this work throughout, so machine learning techniques are used in a very responsible manner,” Dr. Liu adds.

The use of machine learning to measure lesson plan quality holds transformative potential for the field of mathematics education. The team has chosen to focus on assessing the quality of online instructional materials intended for middle-grade math because this is the period when math content starts to become more complex.

"Students need to learn foundational math concepts and skills and build connections among them, to set themselves up for success in STEM learning in high school,” Dr. Sun explains. “In conjunction with the unique challenges adolescents face in terms of their physical and social-emotional development, middle school math becomes a fruitful subject and grade area for this project to focus on.”

The team will develop artificial intelligence- and machine learning-powered algorithms, in collaboration with human expert judgement, to check a lesson plan’s content rigor, engagingness of activities and inclusivity for students with language and special education needs. The algorithms and data practices can be used to develop effective and responsible AI products for teachers.

As teachers increasingly turn to the Web for resources, our research is pivotal in addressing information overload and guiding them toward high-quality lesson plans.
-Dr. Wei Ai, University of Maryland College of Information Studies

"Our project combines the collective wisdom of educational experts with the power of machine learning in processing large quantities of data. As teachers increasingly turn to the Web for resources, our research is pivotal in addressing information overload and guiding them toward high-quality lesson plans. The recent rise of large foundational models (such as those used behind ChatGPT) only intensifies the urgency of this initiative, as it enables the machine learning community to develop their models using only the best in educational content," says Dr. Wei Ai, co-principal investigator and faculty member at the University of Maryland College of Information Studies.

Findings from this project will be shared through the AmplifyLearn.AI Center website, which will launch in October 2023. Led by Dr. Sun, the center is a cross-institution collaboration that explores AI research in education, AI-powered EdTech product development and education data science training and outreach. Additionally, all educators will soon have open access to Colleague, a K-12 online lesson planning platform developed by a multidisciplinary team at the ��ߺ�� led by Dr. Sun that hosts a comprehensive collection of vetted lesson plan materials. The Colleague platform will be launching beta testing this fall and educators and schools are encouraged to stay tuned for updates and opportunities to be part of this testing phase.

In addition to Drs. Ai and Liu, Dr. Sun’s co-principal investigators under the NSF grant include Dr. Lorraine Males of the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, ��ߺ�� and Dr. Melissa Boston of Duquesne University School of Education.

This project is supported by the NSF’s EDU Core Research (ECR) Program. The ECR program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that generates foundational knowledge in the field. Investments are made in critical areas that are essential, broad and enduring: STEM learning and STEM learning environments; broadening participation in STEM; and STEM workforce development.

Contact

Charleen Wilcox

Director for Marketing & Communications

wilcoxc@uw.edu

Embracing a broader definition of literacy

alxbclrk@washington.edu — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 19:59:52 +0000

Embracing a broader definition of literacy

November 9, 2023

As the U.S. is facing another literacy crisis, particularly with the Science of Reading, Lakeya Afolalu has a solution. It’s to challenge schools and society to redefine literacy. “If we solely define literacy as reading and writing, then we omit the diverse ways that people communicate through multiple modalities,” she says. “We need to think more broadly about literacy, which will help schools and spaces create anti-racist, equitable and socioemotional approaches to literacy education.

An assistant professor of language, literacy and culture in the UW ��ߺ��’s Teaching, Learning & Curriculum program, Afolalu first became interested in the topic of literacy as a child. “I was born in the Bronx, New York and raised in Detroit, Michigan. My mother is African American, born and raised in Detroit. My father is Edo Nigerian, migrated from Edo State, Nigeria to the United States,” she explains. “So, as I spent my childhood and adolescent years between New York and Detroit, Nigerian and African American languages and literacies were always around me.”

Over time, and through her doctoral studies, she learned that narrow definitions of literacy that privilege reading and writing often cause tremendous harm to youth of color in the education system. “I always like to say that this current literacy crisis is not new,” says Afolalu. “Literacy has always been gatekept, especially for communities of color.”

I always like to say that this current literacy crisis is not new. Literacy has always been gatekept, especially for communities of color.

She describes the experience of visiting cousins in the suburbs of Detroit who were her age and realizing that they were reading the same books, only fuller chapter versions than she got at her school. “That got me thinking at a young age about how your zip code influences the type of education, and especially literacy education, you get. This all inspired me to become a teacher.”

Another formative part of Afolalu’s experience included making sense of her African American and Nigerian identities, which was especially prominent during her travels between Detroit and New York. In Detroit, which is predominantly African American she was “Lakeya” — the name given to her by her African American mother. “But when I would go to New York City, I crossed into my Nigerian identity and cultural world,” she says. “So much so that when I walked through my father’s door, I was now called by my Edo Nigerian name, “Iyore.”

Overtime, Afolalu began connecting literacy to the arts and humanities when she taught middle school students. “My 6th grade students in Newark, New Jersey and 7th grade students in Harlem loved to dance during recess and in the hallway from one class to another,” she says. “The administration saw their dancing and music as a conflict with the curricula, but it was actually helping them get through the school day, to bond with each other, and instead of reading in the library, they were recording dance videos and sharing them.” In her students, she saw that dance and music are also gestural and oral literacies and forms of communication.

Expressing identity

Now in a position to further impact the education system, Afolalu’s research and teaching continue to amplify this message — literacy is more than reading and writing. Her expanded definition of literacy speaks to the potential of education to evolve to meet the needs of all its students and the future. Digital literacies, visual literacies, dance literacies, fashion — these expanded concepts of literacy truly support students’ identities. She doesn’t believe that we should get rid of traditional literacy basics, such as phonics, word recognition, and comprehension but rather that we should couple it with forms of literacy that are inclusive of students’ racial, ethnic, linguistic and gender identities. This is needed for an equitable anti-racist, and just approach to literacy education.

Her research, which focuses on Nigerian immigrant youth, is concerned with two questions. “I ask myself what happens to Nigerian immigrant youth identities when they move to the United States, and I also ask how do they use language literacy and especially digital literacies in making sense of their new host country, the United States,” says Afolalu.

Lakeya Afolalu

She describes how, in Nigeria, there are societal identity markers like ethnicity, gender and religion. “But when they come to the United States, it’s such a hyper-racialized place,” she says. “And so, for the first time, when many immigrant youths come here from the Caribbean and African nations, they must reckon with race, racial constructs and anti-blackness. So, I ask how U.S. racial identity constructs and racialization processes, in particular, influence how they make sense of their identities, languages, and literacies."

Her research highlights the many ways Nigerian immigrant youth navigate U.S. school and societal spaces. Some transition to natural hair, seek trendy fashion trends, visit symbolic U.S. stores like Starbucks and Target, and exchange soccer for American football. Literacy practices like these helped the youth racially, socially and culturally position themselves in the United States. Others hold onto their Nigerian languages and cultural values by using digital literacies to communicate with school friends in Nigerian on WhatsApp and Xbox chat.

On the other hand, some of the Nigerian youths’ parents told Afolalu that they didn’t bring their children to the U.S. to get into aspects of American popular culture but to pursue the best education. One 5th grade Nigerian girl, whose parents had lived in the U.S. the longest, allowed her to maintain a more hybrid identity, through her art literacies and visits home to Nigeria, that honored both Nigerian and American values. This approach more fluidly integrated the languages and literacies of where she’s come from and where she finds herself.

Digital spaces are also critical to Afolalu’s research. “Texting, Xbox chat, virtual drawing platforms, these spaces don’t often have the same racial, linguistic, and cultural hierarchies and boundaries that exist in the real world offline,” she says. “So, youth, especially African immigrant youth, are able to rise above identity expectations and showcase their preferred identities online.”

Becoming whole

As someone who understands educational inequities firsthand, Afolalu considers it her service to society to put her research into practice. She recently founded LitiARTS — a nonprofit organization that uses literacy, arts-education, and college and career preparation mentorship to enhance educational justice for youth of color around the globe while keeping their identities and well-being at the core. The organization aims to support the whole student in three ways, with mentorship on college applications, art-based workshops and meet-ups for students for community-building and resource-sharing. In their first year, LitiArts was selected as a finalist for NewSchools Racial Equity funding opportunity. They were also recently selected as a recipient of Common Impact’s Day of Service project where they worked with a team of volunteer staff from NVIDIA to strengthen LitiArts’ digital marketing.

This organization manifests one of Afolalu’s core beliefs — every student deserves access to a high-quality education no matter their zip code. LitiARTS partners with youth and communities to build students’ confidence, creativity, and self-expression through the arts; affirm their literacy skills and identities through expansive literacies; and create communities of healthy well-being and belonging through mentorship. This is all especially geared toward students of color and first-generation college students whose identities and well-being are often stripped during their schooling experiences.

With a new undergraduate course she’s teaching, called Postcolonial Identities in the Arts, Education and Society, Afolalu is also learning and exploring alongside UW students so that more future leaders, educators and people in general can continue to think in expansive ways about identity, literacy and the arts to impact change in schools and beyond.

Most importantly, I encourage my students to step into a position of agency to speak back to harmful colonial narratives and experiences that have negatively impacted their families, their communities and their schooling experiences.

“This multi-sited course takes a historical look at the role of colonization in identity constructions and narratives for communities of color,” she says. “We visit local Seattle art spaces, explore visual art collections by artists of color, and engage with the larger Seattle community to bring the course topics to life. Most importantly, I encourage my students to step into a position of agency to speak back to harmful colonial narratives and experiences that have negatively impacted their families, their communities and their schooling experiences. Seattle is truly a gem for understanding how communities of color have taken postcolonial approaches to re-author their identities and narratives.”

At the heart of Afolalu’s inquiry is how we see ourselves and others and how this perspective impacts our overall well-being, especially our joy individually and as a society, from the time we are in school and beyond. Afolalu tells a personal story from when she was 11 years old that encapsulates this idea about when her father brought her grandmother to the United States.

Although she was multilingual and spoke Edo and Nigerian Pidgin, at that time, Afolalu had characterized her grandmother as “unable to speak English.” This characterization stemmed from deficit depictions of Africans in popular media and in her school curricula. Later, through her lived experiences and graduate studies, she would come to see the rich linguistic repertoire that her grandmother brought with her. Though her grandmother is no longer here with us, Afolalu now describes her as multi-lingual, with a rich multitude of literacies to learn from, love and embrace.

Contact

Charleen Wilcox

Director for Marketing & Communications

wilcoxc@uw.edu

Diversifying the school-based mental health workforce

alxbclrk@washington.edu — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 19:26:12 +0000

Diversifying the school-based mental health workforce

November 9, 2023

Recruiting and retaining Black men as school psychologists

A student speaks with a school psychologist or counselor. Image source: Shutterstock.

When it comes to university programs offering degrees and credentials for improving mental health in schools, the UW’s School Psychology program provides something unique. “A lot of school psychology programs focus on assessment rather than mental health,” says UW ��ߺ�� Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Janine Jones, Ph.D. “Some are also situated in psychology departments rather than being in Colleges of Education like ours.”

At a time when the mental health of young people is top of mind across the nation, that means they are well-positioned to increase the number of practitioners providing mental health supports in schools.

“Our School Psychology Program offers excellent training in an expanded model that includes supporting the academic and mental well-being of children and adolescents,” says School Psychology Program Director Kristen Missall, Ph.D. “Our school psychology graduates have a 100 percent pass rate on the certification exam and a 100 percent employment rate.”

Our school psychology graduates have a 100 percent pass rate on the certification exam and a 100 percent employment rate.

Not only that, but the program has long worked to be culturally responsive and has intentionally worked in partnership with Seattle Public Schools (SPS). So, when Jones and Missall heard about a new grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Education focused on increasing the number and diversity of high-quality, trained providers available to address a shortage of mental health service professionals in schools, they knew they had to apply.

Solving a widespread problem

They were awarded a $1.6 million grant last spring to support their project. A partnership between the UW School Psychology program and SPS, the effort focuses on recruiting and retaining Black men as part of the program’s larger cohort earning their postgraduate professional degrees as educational specialists in school psychology.

Over the five years of the grant, the UW School Psychology Program will train and graduate 12 Black male school psychologists into employment at SPS, which will increase their school psychology workforce to be 20% Black males. “The transformation is extraordinarily important and unique,” says Missall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1R_QKmvjxg

A 2022 article published by NPR, “Few Black Men Become School Psychologists, Here’s Why That Matters,” pinpoints the problem the project seeks to address. School psychologists provide a range of mental health and academic services in schools, including assessing a student for a disability. According to a National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) survey, the make-up of school psychologists doesn’t match student demographics. While 85 percent of school psychologists are white, more than 50 percent of students identify as a race other than white. Further, Black children, especially boys, have been disproportionately referred in schools for special education services, in addition to disproportionate disciplinary actions against them and involvement by the police.

“This program is disrupting traditional patterns and biases,” says Jones. “It will offer a tremendous value to children, schools and communities related to mental health and wellness.” The program also aligns with the SPS strategic plan focused on “disrupting the legacies of racism in our educational system.”

This program is disrupting traditional patterns and biases. It will offer a tremendous value to children, schools and communities related to mental health and wellness.

Sparking a national movement

While the number of Black school psychologists in U.S. public schools is still less than 1 percent (according to an estimate by NASP), Jones and Missall are excited that this project will dramatically increase that percentage at SPS. They are also seeing some promising momentum at the national level.

About a year ago, the Black School Psychologists Network formed, and in April of 2023, the organization held its inaugural conference. “I thought there would only be about 150 people there,” says Jones, describing how the field still has a long way to go but also how many more practitioners of color there are now than when she began practicing over 20 years ago. “About 500 people came, and there were so many people that I knew who were missing. It was an incredible event.”

The new network also supports their project. “We’re developing a list of mentors,” Jones says. “Cohort members can connect to people who share their identity and professional field, starting now and becoming part of their professional lives long-term.”

The first cohort of Black male students started in the fall of 2023. While the School Psychology program already focused on recruiting diverse candidates, this effort furthers that trend to everyone’s benefit. “Our school psychology graduate cohorts are about 47 percent racially diverse, on average, and it’s exciting to continue to increase diversity and to have meaningful conversations that reflect everyone’s lived experience,” says Missall.

While the Department of Education funding for this effort is time-limited, the momentum for this kind of change is not. “I’m dreaming that even after this funding ends, our program will be seen as a safe home and will continue to draw people that have not traditionally applied,” says Jones. That’s great, because the schools, students and their communities are ready and waiting.

Contact

Charleen Wilcox

Director for Marketing & Communications

wilcoxc@uw.edu

Recognizing the Experts

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Jun 2023 03:45:10 +0000

Recognizing the Experts

December 19, 2022

Photo courtesy of Cultivate Learning

A child care director when the pandemic hit, Denise Ellenwood got a call from her early learning coach about Early Achievers, Washington State's voluntary quality improvement program.

Her center wasn't signed up for the program. Even with the dollars that came with participation, money that could help families pay for child care and staff pay for continuing education, her board of directors had said no. As a faith-based organization, they feared it would make them too much like every other center. Still, Early Achievers was calling Ellenwood to check in.

"At a time when we didn't have anyone in our corner, the coach asked us what we needed and then provided sanitizer, masks and resources," she says. Over time and with continued interactions, Ellenwood learned about a transformation in progress, a reimagining that would replace the Early Achievers rating system with something entirely different: self-directed recognition and improvement.

"This strength-based approach, focused on the uniqueness of early learning providers, whether faith-based or multi-cultural or something else, excited me," says Ellenwood. She was so impressed that even though she loved her current position as director, she eventually decided to leave and become an early learning coach. Now she works to bring others the support and momentum for growth that she needed when she was in their position.

"I also love for parents to have more options to choose what environment they want for their children," she says. "For example, I'm Native American, and there's a Salish immersion school. That makes my heart so happy that in an urban setting, not on the reservation, Native American families that live in the city have access to this unique school."

Becoming One Team

"During the pandemic, we had the opportunity to adjust and adapt quickly in partnership, to shake the sheets," says Sandy Maldonado, director of Early Learning at Child Care Aware of Washington.

"The state opened up the opportunity to innovate and talked to us about options," says Juliet Taylor, deputy director at Cultivate Learning, a ��ߺ�� organization advancing early childhood education by bridging theory and practice.

Child Care Aware of Washington and Cultivate Learning work under contract with the Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families (DCYF) to support providers in the Early Achievers program. In a coordinated way, Cultivate Learning collects data, supports professional development and training, maintains learning frameworks, and leads ongoing evaluation and research alongside Child Care Aware of Washington who oversees the relationship-based services (coaching, training, mental health consulting, and family services), and supports systems development and implementation.

We wanted to collaboratively hold the torch for high quality, especially at a time of great ambiguity due to the pandemic.

Child Care Aware and Cultivate Learning and their respective teams of coaches, researchers and data collectors had ideas on rethinking the program. They also saw an opportunity to review and rework what might be duplicative across teams. So, when the state invited them to individually present options, they instead decided to prepare one joint proposal. “We wanted to collaboratively hold the torch for high quality, especially at a time of great ambiguity due to the pandemic,” says Taylor.

Amid the social upheaval, racial reckoning and the pandemic's inequitable impact especially felt in early child care, the joint proposal included revising Early Achievers around a racial equity framework and theory of change that put providers in the driver's seat.

When the state approved their proposal, a new collaborative journey began. "When the crisis in child care staffing hit rock bottom, we rallied together: higher education, community-based organizations, and a state department,” says Maldonado. “We committed to an equity lens and also a lens of complexity as we began testing a liberatory design approach. It has been hard work and delightful to co-create conditions for inclusion, show up as our true selves — me, as a Latino leader — and find both a collective sense of belonging and inspiring ways forward."

Not only that, but the state expanded the program to include providers caring for children up to age 12, opening the way to support more children over a more extended period.

A New Process to Celebrate Strengths

DeEtta Simmons, senior director at Cultivate Learning, describes the context leading up to this moment. Washington state's Early Achievers had started ten years earlier as a small quality rating and improvement system. These systems were cropping up across the nation after Oklahoma created the first Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) in the late 1980s. Twenty years later, the new systems had evolved to be more comprehensive. They sought to increase wages and family choice under an overarching banner of quality. By the time the pandemic hit, many states had adopted and scaled quality systems with money from Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge grants.

"Before the pandemic, we had a diverse team of data collectors who would observe the early care and education being provided in every licensed care facility in the state,” says Gail Joseph, UW professor of Learning Sciences and Human Development and the founding executive director of Cultivate Learning. “Then we would use that information to catalyze policy and programmatic improvements such as increased access to professional development and resources for providers."

The program had many positive aspects, including learning and critical infrastructure that developed along the way. This included multi-lingual data collectors and a robust network of full-time coaches employed all over Washington state by Child Care Aware.

What is quality, and how do we define it?

While they could build on existing strengths, the program also needed an overhaul. "The way the program evolved, people felt that raters were coming to find the things they were doing wrong," says Simmons. "That's never what we intended. We're here to honor and recognize people's great work."

"What is quality, and how do we define it?" asks Joseph. "The tools we were using to measure represented a narrow way of thinking of early childhood quality, and we had come to understand that they weren't reliably predictive of child outcomes." One of the consequences was the way that a single set of measures encouraged homes to be more like mini centers. "It was a process of standardizing family childcare, getting rid of what's special," says Joseph.

Alternatively, the new approach would begin by understanding and celebrating providers' existing and unique strengths. First, though, providers needed a lifeline during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Early Achievers coaches started by reaching out.

Designed by and for Providers

"Before the pandemic, we were so focused on the pedagogical piece that we forgot the business piece," says Maldonado. So, when in-person site visits and data collection paused in March 2020, coaches called over 3000 providers weekly for the next six months. They asked if sites were still open, how staffing was, what vacancies they had, and what they needed regarding health and safety support. Then they shared resources and available funding. That was one of the calls Ellenwood received that would change her career path.

"We're stepping into this next chapter with a better understanding of what early learning business owners need to feel like they are thriving in their business, connecting to resources around systems," says Maldonado.

We're stepping into this next chapter with a better understanding of what early learning business owners need to feel like they are thriving in their business, connecting to resources around systems.

After the first six months, Child Care Aware and Cultivate Learning gathered in working groups, including providers, coaches, partners and other agencies, to develop a new system. "Before, providers were put on a train and sent down the track," says Simmons. "Now, the provider is the conductor, and they decide when they want to do the components and what they want to be recognized for."

After two and a half years of deep collaboration, the program's components look entirely different. A provider-driven program profile and video portfolio have replaced the one-shot standardized assessments of the past. Providers receive data reports along the way that can be used to set goals and create action plans with their coach.

Growing Shared Confidence

As part of trusting the program, providers must trust their coaches. Having been a coach in the past, Maldonado understands the importance of the position. "Child Care Aware takes great pride in hiring coaches from within the community, serving the communities in which they live," she says. "Many are bilingual and bicultural and are professionals that step into the full-time role having lived experience as an early child care provider. As the heart of Early Achievers, coaches provide transformational relationship-based services.”

"We appreciate how now it's more provider focused instead of a third party telling us this is what to do and how to do it," says Kayley Billington, director of the Kirkland Children's School, who signed up and became an early adopter of the program in the spring of 2022. "If we need to enhance our diversity, communication with parents, or interaction at circle time, then we will film during those times, and our coach will work with us on what they see."

The use of videos in the process gives some providers pause, but Billington understands the benefits from recently having done the same thing as a student in the ��ߺ��'s Early Care and Education program (ECE). "It's one of the most impactful ways of growing teachers in our field," she says. She describes the process of watching herself, reflecting on what opportunities she missed and how she can do better, and seeing comments from a coach and her peers. While she acknowledges that it was nerve-racking in the beginning, it quickly became familiar and a tremendous tool for development.

Ellenwood agrees. "I went through UW's coaching certificate," she says. "I didn't like being on camera at first, but it helped me reflect on my practice and improve." The coaching certificate, a credit-earning opportunity for coaches to learn best practices, is another way that Cultivate Learning supports Early Achievers. By offering opportunities for coaches to view and reflect on their practice via video review, they are better prepared to support providers.

"We can see a million different things about quality in these video clips," says Joseph. "It's a shift from 'gotcha' monitoring to providers engaging in their own quality improvement process and having it validated."

Not only that, but the program connects providers to resources they may not even know they need, like access to a mental health provider who can offer children, teachers and families additional resources and knowledge.

In addition to supporting provider growth, this effort also shines a light on the stress points of the early childhood field. Large sweeping changes are needed to ensure adequate compensation for a job that does no less than support the next generation during one of its most critical stages of development. Additionally, parents need equitable access to safe, affordable, culturally diverse programs for their developing children.

"It's larger than what we can do," says Ellenwood. "But we can be part of this change by amplifying the voices of providers and the needs of children and families. We are connected to a big support system, and we can be a big advocate for change."

"We're also excited to share this nationally," says Taylor. "Other systems have similar challenges and an interest in promoting equitable systems. There are endless opportunities for how we can learn from each other."

Contact

Charleen Wilcox

Director for Marketing & Communications

wilcoxc@uw.edu