{"id":75027,"date":"2023-10-23T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=75027"},"modified":"2023-11-11T22:39:21","modified_gmt":"2023-11-12T03:39:21","slug":"shaking-up-the-system","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/magazine\/articles\/2023\/shaking-up-the-system\/","title":{"rendered":"Shaking Up The System"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin magazine-block-editorial-leadin is-style-text-over-image has-media has-box has-media-focus-center-top has-text-position-x-left has-secondary-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1445\" height=\"839\" src=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_2759876-copy-e1699306373819.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Side view of stylish African American girl with books and school bag looking at camera while standing against yellow background during studies\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_2759876-copy-e1699306373819.jpg 1445w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_2759876-copy-e1699306373819-900x523.jpg 900w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_2759876-copy-e1699306373819-768x446.jpg 768w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_2759876-copy-e1699306373819-1200x697.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_2759876-copy-e1699306373819-500x290.jpg 500w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_2759876-copy-e1699306373819-992x576.jpg 992w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_2759876-copy-e1699306373819-1000x581.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1445px) 100vw, 1445px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner has-opacity-80\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShaking Up the System\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">BU Wheelock has influenced <strong>systemic changes in education<\/strong>\u2014 locally and globally. Here\u2019s why the best is still to come.\u00a0<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar magazine-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">October 23, 2023<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-comments\">\n\t\t\t<a href=\"#comments\" class=\"wp-prepress-component-comment-counter label has-no-comments\"><span class=\"wp-prepress-component-comment-counter-zero\"><span>0<\/span><\/span><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/magazine\/authors\/steve-holt\/\">Steve Holt<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p><strong>When voters in Multnomah County, Oregon, approved a measure in 2020 directing the government to provide a free preschool education to every three-and four-year-old in Greater Portland, officials had their work cut out for them. <\/strong>If the county\u2019s Preschool for All program failed to deliver, local children\u2014many from low-income backgrounds whose families rely on its services\u2014would suffer. Perhaps more consequential, failure would be a blow to a growing national movement, amplified during the pandemic, to make childcare more affordable and give more children a better academic start.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-photoessay magazine-block-editorial-photoessay wp-block-photoessay js-block-editorial-photoessay\"><div class=\"photo-row-full-f\">\n<div class=\"photo-f\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" src=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_4013928-1500x1000.jpg\" alt=\"children looking into a microscope during a class\" class=\"wp-image-75029\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_4013928-1500x1000.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_4013928-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_4013928-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_4013928-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_4013928-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_4013928-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_4013928-992x661.jpg 992w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_4013928-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_4013928-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_4013928-1984x1322.jpg 1984w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_4013928-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_4013928-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/Stocksy_txpbb6ee879Fjm300_OriginalDelivery_4013928.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The Oregon program was designed to be implemented over 10 years, with the number of preschool seats (and requisite funding) increasing incrementally. Outside evaluation of the program\u2014is it working for all students, and are families and teachers happy with it?\u2014would be key. County officials had been searching for more than a year for a measurement tool that \u201cmeaningfully incorporates racial equity\u201d when they stumbled on the recently developed Validity for the Assessing Classroom Sociocultural Equity Scale (ACSES), codeveloped by BU Wheelock Professor Stephanie Curenton. With the aid of a two-year Kellogg Foundation grant, they tapped BU\u2019s Center on the Ecology of Early Development (CEED), which Curenton directs, to provide an external evaluation of the fledgling Preschool for All initiative. Using Curenton\u2019s ACSES tool, BU researchers measure the experiences of teachers and families involved in the program and ensure instruction is equitable and culturally appropriate. In its first year, Preschool for All funded more than 700 preschool slots in 47 classrooms around Multnomah County, with 68 percent of students identifying as Black, Indigenous, and people of color, and more than 80 percent who are low-income.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere are few early learning classroom assessment tools that are valid, reliable, and also center racial equity,\u201d says Janice Cole, senior research and evaluation analyst in Multnomah County\u2019s Preschool &amp; Early Learning Division. \u201cWe wanted to partner with BU\/CEED because the ACSES tool that Dr. Curenton developed looks specifically at the experiences of Black and brown children in preschool. Being able to partner with the BU team to use an assessment tool that is culturally relevant and anti-bias fills a critical need in our program, and we feel so lucky that we get to work with them.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Multnomah County is just one place where policymakers are using BU Wheelock\u2019s research to transform entire education systems. In the five years since the historic 2018 merger of the former Wheelock College and BU\u2019s School of Education, the college has begun the work of transforming systems in Boston and beyond through the appointment of its faculty to positions of influence at the district, state, and federal levels; through transformative, policy-swaying research; and by training educators and counselors as effective practitioners and agents for systemic change wherever they land. It\u2019s a commitment woven into the BU Wheelock strategic plan, which was adopted by the college\u2019s faculty and staff in January 2021 and summed up in its vision statement.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPremerger, there was a fledgling group [at both schools] doing policy work, but [that work did not have] much impact. Postmerger, we\u2019ve really invested in those areas,\u201d says BU Wheelock Dean David Chard. \u201cWord is getting out, and people are beginning to understand the method to what might initially have seemed a bit crazy\u2014building all this stuff at once.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>TRANSFORMING THE SYSTEMS\u2026&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-rounded\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-1500x1500.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-75036\" width=\"153\" height=\"153\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-1500x1500.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-826x826.jpg 826w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-344x344.jpg 344w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-529x529.jpg 529w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-682x682.jpg 682w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-1032x1032.jpg 1032w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-1321x1321.jpg 1321w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-688x688.jpg 688w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-1058x1058.jpg 1058w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-1364x1364.jpg 1364w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-1652x1652.jpg 1652w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-1000x1000.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-1200x1200.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-550x550.jpg 550w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1-710x710.jpg 710w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/MComb_Headshot_Edited-300x300-1.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 153px) 100vw, 153px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>As a classroom teacher and reading specialist in North Carolina and Massachusetts, Meagan Comb (\u201907) saw systemic dysfunction firsthand. She saw districts struggling to fill crucial vacancies. She lacked high-quality instructional materials as a first-year teacher. She found that some of her students with learning differences weren\u2019t receiving the services they needed.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI can go on and on,\u201d Comb says. \u201cThe systems I existed in led to a bunch of inequities for my kids. It led to constraints on my impact. It led to eventual burnout as a classroom teacher.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Reshaping broken systems became Comb\u2019s top priority, first as director of educator effectiveness at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and now at BU Wheelock, where she is assistant dean of executive affairs and directs the Wheelock Educational Policy Center (WEPC).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote magazine-block-bu-pullquote has-image-focus-center-middle has-secondary-theme has-light-theme-text\"><div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote-inner\"><figure><\/figure><blockquote><div class=\"container-lockup\"><div class=\"container-icon-outer\"><div class=\"container-icon-inner\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container-text\"><hr\/><div class=\"quote-sizing\"><br\/>THE SYSTEMS I EXISTED IN LED TO A BUNCH OF INEQUITIES FOR MY KIDS. IT LED TO CONSTRAINTS ON MY IMPACT.\u201d\u00a0<\/div><footer class=\"caption\">Meagan Comb<\/footer><hr\/><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a general consensus now that our systems are not set up to provide equitable outcomes, which I don\u2019t think I could have said 20, 25 years ago\u2014at least it wasn\u2019t the prevailing narrative when I was trained as a teacher,\u201d Comb says. \u201cThis is a different starting place for thinking about our work. Faculty and leadership at Wheelock have seen this and reoriented efforts to better prepare people for operating successfully within these contexts, while also making&nbsp;a commitment to studying and influencing the larger ecosystems in which they exist.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Early childhood education is a system ripe for research that disrupts the status quo in the name of equity. Curenton says one of the ways CEED\u2019s research is transforming systems is by shaping\u2014and in some cases reshaping\u2014policymakers\u2019 and program leaders\u2019 perceptions of what ideal early childhood education looks like. As it has been doing in Multnomah County, CEED focuses almost exclusively on research into the practices and systems that shape the lives of young children of color\u2014historically a population that has been left behind in American education, especially during the preschool years.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe are working on creating measures that can help schools and early childhood programs assess their classroom climate, curricula, and learning materials,\u201d Curenton says. \u201cWe hope to partner with other entities that will use our knowledge to help drive the professional development the early childhood field needs in order to build its capacity to serve all children\u2014especially those who have been racially marginalized.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>&#8230;THAT IMPACT LEARNING AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>BU\u2019s Wheelock Educational Policy Center studies the systems that impact learning and human development and disseminates its research to policymakers \u201cto improve educational opportunities and holistic outcomes for traditionally marginalized students.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In one recent research project, conducted by WEPC on behalf of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, researchers Andrew Bacher-Hicks, Sidrah Baloch, Olivia Chi, and Ariel Tichnor-Wagner found that a policy to issue emergency teaching licenses during the COVID-19 pandemic did in fact stave off a teacher shortage in the commonwealth and actually resulted in a more diverse workforce. \u201cTheir research is shaping dialogue within the state policy arena and has already begun influencing the state\u2019s thinking on how to support more equitable pathways to the teaching profession,\u201d Comb says.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BU Wheelock is also recasting aspects of its educator training curriculum to reflect the college\u2019s vision to transform systems, Comb says. It isn\u2019t enough for its graduates to merely \u201cgo and exist in those systems,\u201d they should \u201cbe change agents within them.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To that end, BU Wheelock began offering a Master of Arts in Leadership, Policy &amp; Advocacy for Early Childhood Well-Being in 2022. Program director Karen Murphy says the degree prepares students to enter policy-related roles almost anywhere, including in school districts, government leadership, or nonprofits. The hope is that would-be educators and administrators see BU Wheelock not only as a place to learn the nuts and bolts of managing a classroom or school, but recognize and transform systemic challenges within them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>IN BOSTON&#8230;&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Historically, community engagement was central for both the BU School of Education and Wheelock College. But when faculty and staff from each institution sat down together in 2020 to sketch out a strategic vision that would deepen the college\u2019s engagement with the Boston Public Schools (BPS), Mary Churchill wasn\u2019t sure what would happen. \u201cI feel like we didn\u2019t know what we were walking into,\u201d says Churchill, who was vice president of academic affairs at Wheelock College prior to the merger. \u201cWe knew what [now former] President [Robert Brown] and the board had in mind for the merger, but we didn\u2019t know the SED legacy faculty. So, we brought the two groups together; the faculty really are interested in social justice and community engagement and centering work on Boston and BPS.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-photoessay magazine-block-editorial-photoessay wp-block-photoessay js-block-editorial-photoessay\"><div class=\"photo-row-square-1-s\">\n<div class=\"photo-1\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1066\" src=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/19-1531-CHURCHILL-011-1500x1066.jpg\" alt=\"Mary Churchill smiling as opening two wooden glass doors\" class=\"wp-image-75038\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/19-1531-CHURCHILL-011-1500x1066.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/19-1531-CHURCHILL-011-844x600.jpg 844w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/19-1531-CHURCHILL-011-768x546.jpg 768w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/19-1531-CHURCHILL-011-1536x1091.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/19-1531-CHURCHILL-011-1163x826.jpg 1163w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/19-1531-CHURCHILL-011-484x344.jpg 484w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/19-1531-CHURCHILL-011-745x529.jpg 745w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/19-1531-CHURCHILL-011-960x682.jpg 960w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/19-1531-CHURCHILL-011-1452x1032.jpg 1452w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/19-1531-CHURCHILL-011-1859x1321.jpg 1859w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/19-1531-CHURCHILL-011-968x688.jpg 968w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/19-1531-CHURCHILL-011-1489x1058.jpg 1489w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/19-1531-CHURCHILL-011-1920x1364.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/19-1531-CHURCHILL-011-1407x1000.jpg 1407w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/19-1531-CHURCHILL-011.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"photo-s\"><div class=\"wp-block-photoessay-media\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" src=\"\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/iStock-157617980-1500x1000.jpg\" alt=\"Massachusetts State House\" class=\"wp-image-75039\" srcset=\"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/iStock-157617980-1500x1000.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/iStock-157617980-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/iStock-157617980-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/iStock-157617980-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/iStock-157617980-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/iStock-157617980-500x333.jpg 500w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/iStock-157617980-992x661.jpg 992w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/iStock-157617980-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/iStock-157617980-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/iStock-157617980-1984x1322.jpg 1984w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/iStock-157617980-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/iStock-157617980-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/files\/2023\/10\/iStock-157617980.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Leaning into its position as an education college within a research university\u2014in the heart of Boston\u2014 BU Wheelock would conduct community-engaged research that benefits and improves its hometown district, Boston Public Schools.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote magazine-block-bu-pullquote has-image-focus-center-middle has-secondary-theme has-light-theme-text\"><div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote-inner\"><figure><\/figure><blockquote><div class=\"container-lockup\"><div class=\"container-icon-outer\"><div class=\"container-icon-inner\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container-text\"><hr\/><div class=\"quote-sizing\">\u201cTHE\u00a0<br\/>FACULTY REALLY ARE\u00a0<br\/>INTERESTED IN\u00a0<br\/>SOCIAL JUSTICE AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.\u201d\u00a0<\/div><footer class=\"caption\">Mary Churchill<\/footer><hr\/><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Churchill was named associate dean for strategic initiatives and community engagement at BU Wheelock and was tasked with managing the college\u2019s partnership with Boston Public Schools. \u201cMy position was to guarantee that we would actually do this,\u201d says Churchill, who also represents the college on BPS\u2019 Community Equity Roundtable and on the Boston Universal Pre-K advisory board. She works closely with the BPS central office, offering technical assistance and connecting the district with research support from BU.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BU Wheelock\u2019s coordinated programs within the Boston schools are often rooted in the challenges of a classroom teacher in a single school. Katherine Frankel, an associate professor of literacy education, worked with English High School teacher Caitlin Murphy to pilot a mentorship program to encourage independent reading among Murphy\u2019s ninth graders. John McCarthy, a clinical associate professor, started Get Ready: Life Fitness\u2014in which English High School&nbsp;students receive fitness and life coaching\u2014which he\u2019s overseen since 2007. BU Deaf studies researchers created the first English\u2013American Sign Language dual-language curriculum at the Horace Mann School for the Deaf in Allston, where BU\u2019s influence has been felt for decades. The list goes on.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The college has set aggressive targets for deepening its partnership with BPS. By 2030, the college wants 100 percent of its students to complete at least one of their field placements in BPS, and half of BPS teachers to be served through professional development at BU Wheelock. It would like to more than double the number of BU-led research projects in the district, and aims for a BU program to touch three in four BPS students.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>&#8230;AND BEYOND&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>BU Wheelock\u2019s work to transform the systems that impact learning doesn\u2019t stop at the Boston city limits, or even the Massachusetts state line. The Institute for Early Childhood Well-Being, which Dina Castro directs, works internationally to understand&nbsp;and mitigate the challenging life circumstances and traumas that make learning and development difficult, and CEED\u2019s research is being used by policymakers to improve outcomes for Black children in many places.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BU Wheelock\u2019s partnership with the Bahrain Teachers College is strengthening the island nation\u2019s capacity to train, online, the next generation of educators.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether in the Middle East or Multnomah County or Massachusetts, Chard says, BU Wheelock\u2019s mission is identical: improving educational outcomes for children, at every level.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSchools are not built currently to deliver world-class outcomes,\u201d he says. \u201cWe simultaneously have to advocate for policy change, we have to continue to do research and publish and disseminate findings about the inequities, and we have to prepare people to go into those inequitable places and serve children and vulnerable people. That\u2019s it, in a nutshell.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When voters in Multnomah County, Oregon, approved a measure in 2020 directing the government to provide a free preschool education to every three-and four-year-old in Greater Portland, officials had their work cut out for them. If the county\u2019s Preschool for All program failed to deliver, local children\u2014many from low-income backgrounds whose families rely on its [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9090,"featured_media":75028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[],"bu-publication":[6613],"magazine-article-category":[],"magazine-topic":[],"news-article-category":[],"news-topic":[],"bu_edition":[6941],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/75027"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9090"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75027"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/75027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75753,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/75027\/revisions\/75753"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75027"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=75027"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-article-category?post=75027"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-topic?post=75027"},{"taxonomy":"news-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article-category?post=75027"},{"taxonomy":"news-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topic?post=75027"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=75027"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/id-andrea.cms-devl.bu.edu\/wheelock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=75027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}