2020-2021: Using Research to Support Students
Collaboration between researchers and practitioners began at Samueli Academy before the school opened its doors in 2013. Since its earliest days, the Dean of the UCI School of Education has served on the board to facilitate a close partnership that supports Samueli Academy’s goal of empowering low-income Hispanic and foster youth. Ongoing projects focus on school climate, alumni success, and data-driven school administration.
Each year, UCI conducts surveys of students, parents, and staff. These surveys are designed with school leadership in order to inform school practices and guide strategic interventions related to Samueli Academy’s STEM-focused curriculum. The data is rigorously studied by UCI researchers in order to answer complicated questions about the school environment and its relationship to students’ academic success and well-being. The surveys are intentionally compatible with several common questionnaires to allow for comparisons at the district, state, and national levels. Each year, the results are compiled into an internal report and presented to the board and school administrators.
In 2017, Samueli Academy graduated its first senior class; despite tremendous socioeconomic disadvantages, the students had a graduation rate of 97%, and one year after high school, 88% of alumni were enrolled in college. This remarkable success is at least partially due to the school’s commitment to supporting students beyond graduation; Samueli Academy employs a full-time Director of Alumni Success who provides a robust system of resources for graduates. A UCI research team has been collaborating with the Director to conduct a longitudinal study that tracks alumni through college in order to understand the most crucial factors that contribute to academic achievement. Notably, preliminary social network analyses have shown the importance of maintaining high school friendships for college persistence. Marginalized youth frequently report a low sense of belonging at higher education institutions, which is a major predictor of dropping out. Our findings suggest that maintaining friendships from high school through a structured support program can buffer the effect of low sense of belonging in college. UCI and Samueli Academy will present information about the unique Alumni Success program at next year’s largest educational research conference.
The field of education is constantly evolving and schools are always adapting to meet new demands. School leadership at Samueli Academy regularly identifies new areas for improvement; this dialogue guides formative evaluations and iterative cycles of design run by UCI. A variety of small projects are organized each year, from transcript analyses to investigating student attrition to qualitative research that guides mission statement revision. Questions are constantly being investigated. “What school features have facilitated the success of girls in engineering?” “How have foster youth performed compared to other students and why?” “What is the most useful way to measure improvements in socioemotional learning?” Recognizing the diverse needs of the school, researchers from UCI provide a bridge to the university’s wealth of knowledge and expertise. The partnership is mutually-beneficial; research supports Samueli Academy’s success as one of the top high schools in Orange County and findings from school’s projects inform the broader field of education.
Collaboration between researchers and practitioners began at Samueli Academy before the school opened its doors in 2013. Since its earliest days, the Dean of the UCI School of Education has served on the board to facilitate a close partnership that supports Samueli Academy’s goal of empowering low-income Hispanic and foster youth. Ongoing projects focus on school climate, alumni success, and data-driven school administration.
Each year, UCI conducts surveys of students, parents, and staff. These surveys are designed with school leadership in order to inform school practices and guide strategic interventions related to Samueli Academy’s STEM-focused curriculum. The data is rigorously studied by UCI researchers in order to answer complicated questions about the school environment and its relationship to students’ academic success and well-being. The surveys are intentionally compatible with several common questionnaires to allow for comparisons at the district, state, and national levels. Each year, the results are compiled into an internal report and presented to the board and school administrators.
In 2017, Samueli Academy graduated its first senior class; despite tremendous socioeconomic disadvantages, the students had a graduation rate of 97%, and one year after high school, 88% of alumni were enrolled in college. This remarkable success is at least partially due to the school’s commitment to supporting students beyond graduation; Samueli Academy employs a full-time Director of Alumni Success who provides a robust system of resources for graduates. A UCI research team has been collaborating with the Director to conduct a longitudinal study that tracks alumni through college in order to understand the most crucial factors that contribute to academic achievement. Notably, preliminary social network analyses have shown the importance of maintaining high school friendships for college persistence. Marginalized youth frequently report a low sense of belonging at higher education institutions, which is a major predictor of dropping out. Our findings suggest that maintaining friendships from high school through a structured support program can buffer the effect of low sense of belonging in college. UCI and Samueli Academy will present information about the unique Alumni Success program at next year’s largest educational research conference.
The field of education is constantly evolving and schools are always adapting to meet new demands. School leadership at Samueli Academy regularly identifies new areas for improvement; this dialogue guides formative evaluations and iterative cycles of design run by UCI. A variety of small projects are organized each year, from transcript analyses to investigating student attrition to qualitative research that guides mission statement revision. Questions are constantly being investigated. “What school features have facilitated the success of girls in engineering?” “How have foster youth performed compared to other students and why?” “What is the most useful way to measure improvements in socioemotional learning?” Recognizing the diverse needs of the school, researchers from UCI provide a bridge to the university’s wealth of knowledge and expertise. The partnership is mutually-beneficial; research supports Samueli Academy’s success as one of the top high schools in Orange County and findings from school’s projects inform the broader field of education.