History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Research
2011 Educational Opportunity Report: Free Fall
May 4: IDEA answers key questions about LAUSD a-g policy
Creating Successful Multiple Pathways: Useful Research for Educators and Policymakers
IDEA is currently engaged in a three-year study of Multiple Pathways, “Implementing Multiple Pathways: Useful Research for Educators and Policymakers.”
Study Framework
The goal of this study is to produce trustworthy, useful, and non-partisan research and guidance to policymakers and educators about MP in California high schools. As an education reform focused on equity, MP seeks to transform existing school structures and cultural norms that hold inequality in place. This study of schools that are engaged in meaningful implementation of MP can inform other schools about replicating or creating new versions of MP schools. However, we know that meaningful reforms don’t just take place in classrooms or school district offices; our research will expand and deepen policymakers’ understanding and the public’s confidence that MP works in a variety of settings.
UCLA’s IDEA is conducting ten case studies of schools and programs that have either 1) successfully implemented the MP approach or 2) demonstrated commitment to the approach and taken preliminary and promising steps towards full implementation. All of the case study schools have demonstrated a willingness to embody key MP elements (including integration of career and academic curriculum (A-G), real-world learning experiences, student engagement, and students support services) and a commitment to challenging prevailing patterns of school stratification.
Study Sites, Data Collection and Analysis
Researchers are using a mixed-methods approach to provide clear examples of how each school enacts MP principles, including their strategies and results. Researchers observe, interview, and/or survey students, families, teachers, and school administrators in order to document their perspectives, practices, and policies. The 10 research sites, in diverse geographic locations, represent many issues that schools are likely to face when implementing Multiple Pathways. Taken together, these programs represent a large enough sample to help shape the way policymakers, education leaders, and the public think about Multiple Pathways, guide new policies that can create the conditions for successful MP schools, and inform educators’ on-the-ground implementation.
Products
In addition to scholarly publications, the project will produce and distribute a practitioner’s guide, consisting of basic principles, specific examples, and implications for practical action. The text will be illustrated and accompanied by a video documentary on DVD. Products will be available in 2011.
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