UC funds assist K-12 education

Published: Thursday, February 29, 1996

Programs get more than $100 million in funds, report says

By Rachanee Srisavasdi

Daily Bruin Staff

The University of California plays an important role in pre-collegiate education and teacher development, according to a recent report.

The university report - titled the Schools and University of California: A Commitment to the Future of California - found that the University of California provides more than $100 million to about 800 kindergarten-to-12th-grade university programs.

In recent years, university involvement in K-12 education has shifted from traditional outreach to a broader range of programs including curriculum changes and teacher/administrator assessment and training.

"We believe in the inherent power and capability of the state's teaching force to improve educational quality," said Robert Polkinghorn, executive director of the UC's Academic Collaboratives in Education. "The principal goal is improvement in student learning."

One of the main reasons for university efforts is to prepare students for college, including admission to the UC system.

"The university has the responsibility in reaching out to schools to help secure a larger pool of candidates to attend the UC," said education professor Eugene Tucker.

The university significantly increased its number of programs in the last decade because of the reported benefits of K-12 and college collaboration. Research shows that students benefit from university involvement with K-12 education, Tucker added.

Some analysts said that the university efforts are also due to its lack of participation in the past.

"The UC has been criticized in the past for not being involved in public education," said Joni Finney, associate director of the California Higher Education Policy Center, an education think tank in San Jose. "In part, their efforts are in response to this criticism."

One program that works with K-12 education is Center X at the UCLA Department of Education, which develops university-school partnerships to assist teachers and administrators. The center, directed by Tucker, helps teachers mentor novice teachers and works with administrators to improve curriculum.

"We try to improve the quality of teaching by working with teachers," Tucker said. "An elementary teacher may not know about science or mathematics, so we use specific teaching strategies.

The university is also involved in collaborative efforts, which include the California State University, the Department of Education and California Community Colleges.

The California Subject Matter Projects - one of the partnership projects - was designed to provide ongoing education for teachers. The program's strategies include developing teacher leadership, suggesting teaching strategies and familiarizing teachers with curriculum content.

"There is a mutual benefit for collaborations between the university and teachers," said Leann Parker, assistant director of UC Academic Collaboratives in Education. "We're learning so much about students and K-12 education from working with teachers."

Another university program is the Community Teaching Fellowship, which at UCLA involves the Los Angeles Unified School District. With UCLA's mathematics and education departments, the program offers fellowships to mathematics students to teach K-12th graders.

"The university needs to be involved," Tucker said. "Research universities can't do just research. It should provide access and support to K-12 education."Comments to webmaster@db.asucla.ucla.edu