RESEARCH-PRACTICE-POLICY PARTNERSHIP (RP3) CONSORTIUM FOR SCHOOL REDESIGN

RP3

The Research-Practice-Policy Partnership (RP3) Consortium for School Redesign brings together four RP3 hubs that are advancing university-assisted community schools and a common vision of equity-centered thriving. Community schools–as the backbone institution of our democracy–are poised to help the public reimagine and reassess 

the potential of young people. Unprecedented investments in community schooling present an opportunity to challenge narrow conceptions of academic success and the credentialing function of schools. Instead of equating education with amassing credits and grades to unlock the next step in life, community schools can be designed to embrace and operationalize a holistic conception of thriving students, offering a counter-narrative to the competitive drone and disengagement so many youth experience in schools.

The RP3 Consortium supports this movement to redesign secondary education. Across the four hubs, partners are collaboratively developing and documenting high-leverage redesign strategies to better understand their implementation challenges within the longstanding grammar of schooling.

Work of the Redesign Hubs

The UCLA Center for Community Schooling provides the RP3 infrastructure to frame and help communicate the learning generated in these hubs, building on its state and national work to advance university-assisted community schools and community-based learning. This infrastructure focuses on the following three areas:

Redesign

Hubs will develop and study multiple high leverage redesign strategies, including: graduation portfolios tied to core competencies, centering community-based learning through capstone performance assessments, and developing strong advisory programs to anchor socio-emotional learning.

Measure

Each hub will develop evidence and measures of equity-centered thriving, both for individuals (e.g., well-being, college and career readiness) and communities (e.g., collective improvement capacity, democratic school culture).

Connect

Hubs will be strategically tied to organizations and networks working to create systems and policies that advance equity-centered thriving, for example, the State Performance Assessment Learning Community, Center for School and System Redesign, National Association of College Admissions Counseling, and others.

RP3 Redesign Hubs

UCLA Community Schools & UCLA

The University of California, Los Angeles, the UCLA Community School, and the Mann UCLA Community School are redesigning secondary education by centering student agency through community-based research projects that challenge traditional structures and engage youth in civic inquiry.

San Diego Met High School, UCSD & Big Picture Learning

The University of California, San Diego and Big Picture Learning are working with San Diego Met High School to redesign traditional assessments by centering the development of students’ empirical reasoning through community-based internships.

Para Los Niños & LMU

Loyola Marymount University and Para Los Niños are redesigning advisory periods that foster joy, strengthen teacher-student relationships, and enhance students’ sense of connection and belonging.

Strengthening University Partnerships’ Evaluation and Research for San Diego (SUPER-SD)

SUPER-SD is a collaborative initiative among San Diego State University, UC San Diego, San Diego Unified, and the San Diego Education Association that is strengthening redesign efforts across all six SDUSD community schools through a 12-month action research project led by Hoover High School.

The RP3 consortium is made possible through the generous support of the Youth Thriving Through Learning Fund.