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Clarke County’s dream team
Building an education partnership that works and lasts
mchilds@coe.uga.edu
The co-chairs of the design team for the partnership between the university and the Clarke County School District, announced earlier this month, are JoBeth Allen and Jenny Oliver of UGA’s School of Education and Norma McNair of the Clarke County schools. Columns spoke with the three of them about the project for improving the schools.
Columns: Where did the partnership idea originate?
Oliver: Clarke County School Superintendent Lewis Holloway and Dean Louis Castenell of the UGA College of Education believe the two institutions should work together to improve education (including teacher education) in Clarke County. They came to an agreement in principle between the school district and the university (including the College of Education, the School of Social Work, the College of Business and other units). The partnership grew out of the strategic plans of both CCSD and UGA.
Columns: What will be the focus of these efforts?
Allen: While those involved in the partnership will determine the specific areas, initial concerns are that too many students are not achieving their full potential, there are unacceptable achievement gaps among economic and ethnic groups, and education must be “re-visioned” by all members of the community and occur in schools, community agencies and university settings simultaneously and collaboratively. Schools must serve the needs of parents and students.
Columns: Who will be involved? Are schools and faculty already selected?
Allen: Drs. Holloway and Castenell selected faculty and staff within both institutions for a design team to explore how the partnership might operate. The original group expanded to include teachers, community leaders and parents. No school has been selected, although the initial focus is on pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. The first site or sites could be existing school buildings, but other sites will be considered. Faculty and staff participation will be strictly voluntary.
Columns: Why isn’t the whole school district involved?
McNair: The plan is that the faculty and staff of the partnership schools will develop practices that can be studied and adapted by other interested schools to meet the specific needs of their children and families. We hope to start small, learn as we go, and eventually involve others.
Columns: What will the design team do?
Allen: This diverse group has committed its time and talents for the next year. They met for a full day and responded to three very broad questions: What is CCSD currently providing that is the greatest value to students? What are the most significant challenges in the CCSD? What is our vision for how our school district might meet these challenges?
Columns: Can other people get involved in the planning process?
Allen: For this partnership to be successful, we need the participation of as many members of the Athens–Clarke County community as possible. There are many ways to be involved. One is to serve on one of the action committees. Another is to provide feedback and suggestions on the interactive CCSD-UGA Partnership Web site, which will be online soon. Information will be posted from meetings (for example, all the “Strengths, Challenges and Visions” from the design team discussion), and the Web site will ask for ideas on every aspect of the partnership. Finally, you can talk with any member of the design team and invite us to come to your school to discuss your vision.
Columns: How might the relationship between the schools and the university grow?
Allen: The partnerships will be long-term and genuinely collaborative. In addition to the many beneficial projects faculty from both institutions are involved with now, we hope to institutionalize school-identified opportunities. For example, we will explore ways to study our teaching together, with faculty from both institutions teaching in schools and university classrooms.
Columns: How will families be involved?
McNair: We want to develop two-way partnerships with families and the extended school community based on their needs. One idea is to re-think schools as Community Learning Centers that are open for extended hours, have state-of-the-art technology, and provide a variety of educational opportunities for children, their families and all community members.
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