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Developing and Sustaining University-Community Partnerships in Rural Communities
Julie Sarno Owens, Ph.D.
Center for Intervention Research in Schools
Department of Psychology
Ohio University
OverviewContext
UC Partnerships: Why and Why Not?
Navigating the Issues
Partnership Initiation
Working Together
Ethical Challenges
Appalachian Region of Ohio
Child Poverty (16%), unemployment (8%), uninsured (12%) exceed state rates
High school completion (78%), per capita income ($16K), and median household income ($39) are below state averages
Isolation, lack of public transportation, limited affordable housing
Mental health professional shortage
Needs exceed resources
Region also has strengths
Youth Experiencing Success in School (Y.E.S.S.) ProgramGoals:
Improve academic and behavioral functioning
Enhance home-school collaboration
Enhance service accessibility
Provide on-going consultation to teachers
Evaluate program effectiveness, feasibility, integrity
Services :Assessment
Behavioral Parenting Sessions
Year-long Teacher Consultation
Classroom Interventions (Daily Report Card)
Individual child counseling, as needed
Owens et al., 2005; 2008; 2010
Other Collaborative
ProjectsKindergarten Screening Projects (Girio & Owens, 2011)
Parent Involvement Project (Mahoney, Owens et al., 2010)
CMHC - Assessing Outcomes Project (Karpenko et al 2011; Owens et al., 2011)
Consultant on a Rural Network Development Grant
OU CBPR Learning Community (Owens et al., 2010)
Center for Adolescent Research in Schools (CARS)
OverviewContext
UC Partnerships: Why and Why Not?
Navigating the Issues
Partnership Initiation
Working Together
Ethical Challenges
UC Partnerships: Why?
Rationale:Current demand for accountabilities is highUptake of science into practice is slow
BenefitsProvides communities with resources and infrastructure for professional development, students program implementation, evaluation, and sustainability Offers universities the opportunity to conduct research that is grounded in the realities of daily school/community operations; opportunities for student learning and training
Opportunity to transforming service delivery and scientific inquiry are unmatched
(Owens, Dan, Alvarez, Tener, & Oberlin, 2007)
UC Partnerships: Why Not?
Culture of Academia
Prioritize precisionSeeking to control variablesSlow pace of actionRewarded for grants and publicationsLanguage of statistics & theory
Culture of CommunitySeeking practical solutionsSwift pace of actionPrioritize improving QOLQualitative, uncontrolled analysesRewarded for quotas and low costInterested in adapting programs
Barriers to CollaborationUnbalanced Leadership
Mismatch in interests/focusTime and scheduling challengesFinancial constraints
How do Community Members Initiate a UC Partnership?
Understand the culture of academiaConnect with the right person
Contact an individual faculty member (read program of research)Contact the Chair of a departmentContact a university training clinicContact the administrator of student services or student affairsContact the clearinghouse for student service learning projects
(Owens, Dan, Alvarez, Tenner, & Oberlin, 2007)
How do Faculty Members Initiate a CU Partnership?
Initiator
Consultant
Collaborator
Roles may be different during different projects/phases of the partnership
(Stoecker, 2003)
Partnership Initiation: Finding Common Ground
What are the needs and resources
of the community?
of the university?
What is the nexus between the two?
What are the values and priorities of each?
How can the resources of each be leveraged?
Clearly articulate the group’s goals, values missions so that you can stay on target
What type of Partnership?
Trust During Partnership
InitiationCommunity: concerned about data casting negative perceptions
University: concerned about community follow-through
Researchers must ‘get to know’ the community
Spend time in the community
Listen to the history, get to know the people and dynamics. (“show up” and “be there”)
Explicitly address past experiences with the university
Wallerstein et al., 2005
Partnership Initiation: Processes & Challenges
ChallengesDifferent languages/ acronyms
Lack of/misunderstandings about each other’s work
Potential for unbalanced leadership
Possible Solutions
Create a glossary of terms for each other
Share info about structure, operating demands and pressures
Co-lead meetings; create opportunities for co-learning and joint decision-making
We Agree To Work Together….Now What?
ProcessesAdopt of set of principles to follow that are relevant to your group (e.g., CBPR) and procedures for monitoring them
Adopt procedures for co-leadership and equitable participation of all members
Adopt procedures for decision-making
70% Rule of Consensus (Everyone supports the decision, but they do not have to be behind it 100%. If all members can provide 70% of their own support, overall consensus has been reached; Israel et al., 2005)
Discuss procedures for conflict
Agree to disagree on some issues
(Israel et al., 2003; Wallerstein et al,. 2005)
Action Steps
Decide on membership size; Who else should be at the table? (other systems, parents, “do-ers” verses “deciders”; political/strategic invites)
Establish a time frame for planning and network development
Identify short and long-term goals
(Wallerstein et al,. 2005)
Content
Research
ServiceTraining
SOCIAL CHANGE
The Wheels Are Rollin’…We’re Moving Right Along
Navigating the Specifics
Research:
Discuss the roles of each partner in:
Framing research questionsImplementing the designCollecting the dataAnalyzing the dataInterpreting the dataDisseminating results Acting on the results
Service:What services?Who provides them?SupervisionNavigating turf issuesConsent formsEthical codes
Training:For students?For staff?Case load size?Who monitors quality?
Tough Decisions and Compromise
Eligible participants
What is the impact of inclusion/exclusion criteria?
What is the impact of severity?
Comparison Condition for Evaluation
Random assignment at what level?
Timing of Evaluation
Consider potential confounds to conclusions drawn
Consider staff/teacher time and competing demands
Participatory Method Development
Solicit input and feedback from those who will be involved in the methodology
Recruitment Strategies
Language on the consent form
Name of program/intervention conditions
Relevant compensation
Time of measurement completion
What have you left out/what would they like to add?
Trust During the Difficult
DecisionsShow respect for others’ opinions and needs
Follow through – do what you commit to do between meetings
Compromise
Respect confidentiality – “what happens in the partnership meeting stays in the partnership meeting”
Start to include each other in events beyond the partnership
Celebrate successes(Becker et al., 2005)
Partnership and Program
AssessmentProgram
OutcomesData –Driven Student Outcomes
Staff feedback on feasibility and acceptability
Are we producing the intended + outcomes?
Are there unintended outcomes (+ or -)?
What modifications are necessary?
Partnership OutcomesFormal or informal approach?
Are we meeting our short-term goals?
Are we making adequate progress toward our long-term goals?
Assessment of partnership process dimensions (e.g., communication, trust, leadership)
Open ended questionnaires
(Schulz et al., 2003)
Retreats and Strategic Planning Sessions
Ultimate Outcome Indicator: Will you work together again?
Effect Sizes for Grade Point
Average
Grade Point Average
GPA
GPA
-1 -0.8 -0.6 -0.4 -0.2 0 0.2
Waitlist
Treatment
Building Capacity in Partners• Establish a meeting structure that facilitates co-learning
• Researcher gains knowledge in school-based procedures (e.g., IAT/IEP) and community history and culture
• Community members gain knowledge about rigor in methods, data-driven decision making, strategies for interpreting data
Example: Community members begin to appreciate the value of data and rigorous methods (Owens et al., 2010)
Example: Writing and presenting with co-partners
Dissemination of Outcomes
Local presentations
State conferences
National conferences
Co-write articles in practice-based outlets
Co-write articles in academic outlets
Boosts morale and pride
Enhances relevance of the data
Builds capacity in all partners
Facilitates social change
Thinking Ahead: Sustainability
What type of partnership do you want to be?
Stay connected to stakeholders in the larger communtiy
Financial stability
Development of new goals/projects
Synergistic
Integration of goals
Working with shared resources
Working for common goals
Planning and formalized leadership
Coordination of activities with each other
Communication with each other
Unilateral awareness
TransformationalPartnership
TransactionalRelationship
Positive Transitions in the Partnership
Clayton & Bringle, 2010
Initiation• Partnershi
p development• Monthly meetings
Year 1• Y.E.S.S.
begins in School 1• Waitlist in School 2
Year 2• Y.E.S.S. in Schools 1 & 2• Waitlist in School 3
Year 3• Y.E.S.S. in Schools 1, 2, 4• Waitlist in School 5
Year 4• Y.E.S.S. in
4 schools• No waitlist School
Year 5• Y.E.S.S.
scales back to 3 schools• Rethinking
Implementation
Year 6,7,&8• Strategic Planning Retreat• District receives USDOE Grant • Y.E.S.S. in
all Schools• Examining sustainability model
Timeline of Y.E.S.S. Program Partnership Development Depicting Expansions and Transitions in Leadership
Pupil Personnel Director Retires
All Principals change buildings
University Partner on maternity leave
Juvenile Court Judge deceases
New Judge elected
Multiple District Leadership
Positions Change
Interim Judge appointed
Hire new School
Counselors
Pupil Personnel Director Retires
Managing Challenging Transitions in the Partnership
•Leverage program champions
•Stay connected to key decision makers
•Have an orientation packet to efficiently integrate new members
• Rely on formerly defined group processes and procedures
Recruitment & Informed Consent
When researchers are embedded within the school, do families understand the ‘choice’ to participate?
Example 1:
School Counselors trained to implement the Y.E.S.S. Program
Consenting parents at one of many ‘stations’ during a Kindergarten screening
Teachers As Participants
Do teacher feel that they have a choice to participate? Examples:
Principal decides “our school is participating”
Questionnaires are completed in a group setting at a teacher in-service
What is the impact if one teacher declines to participate?
Example in K Screening Project:
Parents are expecting a summary report that provides the results of parent and teacher screening measures, but the teacher has declined to participate? How do we protect that teacher from negative repercussions?
Clinicians As Participants
How should researchers address low integrity in a clinician’s performance?
Example:
When monitoring integrity to the protocol, one clinician’s skills are below the acceptable threshold? What if the procedures are considered harmful to the client?
Interpretation of Data
The “Push for Positive Results”
Community: program continuation is dependent upon positive outcomes
University: next steps in research are based upon both expected and unexpected outcomes
CBPR Recommendation: Discuss possible interpretations and consequences of them prior to starting the project (Israel et al., 2003)
Ownership of Data
How will each partner use the data?
In CBPR, there is a tenet of “shared ownership”
What challenges does this create?
Examples:Community project occurs with and agency as a function of a student’s thesis/dissertation. New interns to the agency want to use the data for their field placement project.
Pilot data sample sizes are small and may reveal information about the performance of specific clinicians.
SummaryUC Partnerships offer a mechanism for
Accelerating the uptake of evidence-based practices that address community needs
Evaluating effectiveness, feasibility, and sustainability of evidence-based practices
Challenging, but results in rewarding, meaningful work
Each partnership is unique, but there are commonality across
Lessons learned offer guides for initiating partnerships, navigating challenging relationship and ethical issues, developing rigorous but feasible methodologies, disseminating results and ultimately achieving social change
Thank [email protected]