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How can education partnerships help bridge the gap in schools between what policy dictates and what actually happens in the classroom? How is the Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC) helping make Rice a leader in this space?
Dr. Erin Baumgartner is the director of HERC at Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research. She and David discuss how HERC partners with eight Houston-area public school districts to produce actionable research informing policies affecting more than 700,000 students.
Dr. Baumgartner describes joining HERC as a postdoc in 2015 and staying because districts use the findings to make decisions, unlike research that “sits on a shelf.” She explains research-practice partnerships, shares examples including research that led a district to open hundreds of new pre-K seats and work expanding wraparound supports for families, and discusses broader issues such as Texas accountability systems.
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Episode Guide:
- 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
- 00:50 Erin’s Path to HERC
- 01:58 What Is an RPP
- 03:18 Research in Action
- 04:10 From Classrooms to Policy
- 05:40 Wraparound Supports
- 06:33 Accountability Questions
- 08:03 Education and Urban Vitality
- 09:49 Pathways After High School
- 11:45 Linking Data Over Time
- 13:30 Turning Findings Into Decisions
- 14:22 Meet the HERC Team
- 15:14 Biggest Challenges Now
- 16:50 Rapid Fire at Rice
- 18:52 Closing and Where to Learn More
Beyond The Hedges is a production of Rice University and is produced by University FM.
Episode Quotes:
How Dr. Erin views public education as engine for urban vitality & economic mobility in Houston
08:52 I think it's hard to overestimate the importance of public education in our communities, that unless we have a well-supported and well-educated population, we are not going to have a thriving economy. We're not going to have a supported workforce. We're not going to have an engaged community. So whatever we can do to support public education and the opportunities that come to students by moving through those systems and being prepared for whatever comes next, anything we can invest in there, I think, is money well spent. One of the things I think that's really important about what's happening at Rice and the focus around Momentous and this sentiment around building thriving urban communities is the work that we do in partnership with these school districts is completely free. Yes, we apply for grants and have some foundation support that comes in for it, but there's also some support that we get from Rice to make sure that we're providing this as a community and support to our community.
How research informs district-level policy and decision-making
04:45 When you think about the policies and decisions that happen at the district level, those often reflect the state policies or federal policies that are coming down. And so while a project might not come to us because of a state law that just passed, it's maybe because the school district is now having to think about this thing or approach it in a different way because of that policy that passed. And so I think that that's where our connection happens. Our work might not always directly get to the state legislature, but it's informing policies within districts that could ultimately have some of those broader impacts.
How HERC helps partners make research-informed decisions
13:19 Our work isn't just about answering questions for the sake of answering questions. It's thinking about how do we take this information and translate it into something that's actionable for a school district.
Show Links:- Houston Education Research Consortium (HERC) | Rice University
- Kinder Institute for Urban Research | Rice University
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