When a world-class School of Education, local K-12 teachers, principals, students and district administrators come together, great things happen.
That is what’s happening through the UCI School of Education’s Orange County Educational Advancement Network, or OCEAN. OCEAN is a network of research-practice partnerships between the School of Education and K-12 schools in Orange County. At each site, a School of Education faculty member and doctoral student work with school leadership to identify the greatest needs and goals of the school, and in turn conduct research that will positively impact the school.
Established in 2018 with six school sites in Santa Ana, Anaheim and San Juan Capistrano, OCEAN has grown to include 12 K-12 school sites, four school districts and multiple youth nonprofit partners.
OCEAN was the vision of the School of Education Dean Richard Arum, a nationally recognized expert in advancing educational opportunities for underserved youth. He credits the investment of seed funding from prominent local philanthropists as the catalyst for OCEAN’s success.
By aligning with needs identified by teachers, parents and administrators, these partnerships not only enrich educational research, but also promote educational equity. Doctoral students involved in OCEAN provide university-level research support to local schools and receive fellowships for their community service.
In direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic, OCEAN faculty and graduate students mobilized to form workgroups that addressed threats to educational opportunities in low-income communities of color. These workgroups supported pandemic-related needs of not only students, but teachers and families as well.