Introduction: The Partners

The partnership between the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering (UM CoE, or the College) and the Ypsilanti Public School District (YPSD, or the District) existed for two years as of this writing in 2009. The first year was dedicated to the planning process, and the second was the pilot year. The long-term, sustainable partnership was designed to increase the number of students, especially those underrepresented students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), in engineering-related careers, and to increase student motivation and support the rigor of courses, content learning, professional learning, and demonstrations of knowledge acquired.

UM CoE

The College enjoys an excellent and long-standing reputation for its commitment to supporting the highest quality faculty, facilities, students and scholars. As UM CoE pushes existing boundaries, expands its reach and enhances its stature in engineering and developing technologies, its leaders  increasingly stressed the vital importance of developing lasting relationships that increase public awareness regarding the importance and integrative nature of engineering.

A tertiary objective of the College’s Strategic Plan was to coordinate and support efforts to engage the K-12 educational community, to increase the number and diversity of students choosing engineering. To help support this objective, the College created in 2007 a dedicated office to support faculty for K-12 outreach and other social responsibility functions. The Office of Engineering Outreach and Engagement, or (OE)^2 (currently under the auspices of the Center for Engineering Diversity and Outreach), was established as a coordinating function with a mission to motivate, prepare, educate, and support outstanding, qualified students to enter the engineering field. With our partners in education, we both created original and unique educational outreach programs or took advantage of ongoing projects that boast the same high quality and adhere to the same high standards as the research on which they are based. (OE)^2 also provided assistance to faculty, scholars and students who wished to promote public understanding of science, engineering and new technologies through personal assistance with proposals, planning, implementation; facilitation and coordination on assessment and evaluation of research-based programs; coordination with other groups across campus; and collaboration with external groups.

YPSD

Ypsilanti Public School District established in 2007 a strong position on student achievement: Failure is not an option for its students. In order to produce the next generation of successful students who will make a significant difference for our community, state and country, the District changed its normal way of doing school business and provided students with learning opportunities that would build on their natural desire for success.

Collaboration around the ideas of teaching and learning in addition to coming to terms with achievement data were key toward making the District move from good to great. YPSD’s new initiatives related to this goal were focused on program coherence. Each program wa linked to other programs to build a learning community that offered consistency and structure.

YPSD established a professional learning community with Critical Friends' Group in all its schools. A range of school improvement efforts were undertaken, as well as curriculum mapping at all levels and for all courses. The work was data driven and research based. Teachers throughout the district looked at student data and accepted responsibility for effecting changes in instruction or procedures in order to help every child succeed in school. All initiatives were designed to raise student achievement district-wide.

Research on learning and cognition indicates students of all ages are more likely to learn when their experiences connect with and build on one another (Greeno, Collins, & Resnick, 1996; Mayer et al.; Wittrock, 1996; Bransford, Brown, et al.; Cocking, 1999). To the extent that experiences are disconnected, it is more difficult for students to incorporate new understandings into prior knowledge and to alter prior knowledge when necessary.

Studies in cognitive science indicate that learning takes time and requires recurring opportunities to practice and to apply knowledge and skills in new contexts. Material learned through short-term exposure and only in reference to a limited context is less likely to be retained and transferred to other settings.

In comparison to disconnected, short-term experiences, integrated experiences that are sustained long enough for successful completion provide greater clarity about what is required for mastery and how prior knowledge can be applied to future questions. This concept of program coherence set the stage for the strong partnership between YPSD and UM CoE that includes a commitment, over time, and the application of knowledge and skills in new contexts.

This is why YPSD decided to partner with UM CoE. Read more in this guidebook's first chapter about the process preceding the approach, and how a year of planning brought clarity and commitment to the jointly-owned endeavor.