The Center for the Study of Education would foster research on all levels of education—from preschool to graduate school. It will address educational processes on a cognitive level, an interactional level (e.g. between teachers and students), and on an organizational level.  The presence of an education center would facilitate interdisciplinary research on educational topics such as retaining women and minorities in STEM fields, evaluation and identification of most effective teaching and learning practices in STEM subjects, and the relationship between social inequality and education, including how social class, race/ethnicity, gender, and immigration status all influence individual experiences within the educational system. The center will be open to scholarship using a variety of methods, including qualitative techniques (ethnography, in-depth interview, content analysis) and quantitative techniques—especially utilizing the many large-scale datasets offered by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES).

Given this broad vision, the proposed education center will incorporate educational scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. UC Merced has multiple faculty pursuing research on education, and the proposed center would foster research collaboration and interdisciplinary graduate training.  Economics faculty at UCM study the development of universities (Alex Whalley), sociology faculty are studying issues of race, gender, and class inequalities in education (Irenee Beattie and Laura Hamilton), a number of psychology faculty study early child social, health and cognitive development (Jeffrey Gilger, Jan Wallander, others), a consortium of scholars—including those in the natural sciences—study STEM-field retention of women and minorities, public health scholars study how to best education communities about health issues (Susana Ramirez), and cognitive scientists study the human-computer interaction that defines much of the future movement toward digital education (Paul Maglio). The Center for the Study of Education will bring all of these scholars together in one space, and promote the formation of new intellectual synergies in the study of education.  There is not currently any campus infrastructure to connect the various individuals groups interested in educational scholarship with one another, so this Center would fill an important niche on campus that builds on existing strengths. The Center would also likely develop research and funding collaborations with other existing and proposed centers on campus, such as the Center for Humanities, Health Sciences Research Institute, Center for the Study of Comparative Global Inequalities, the Quantitative research center, and the Center for Research on Teaching Excellence.

In addition, the Center will help broaden and grow current educational programs on campus and partnerships with local community schools. In particular, since its inception in 2006 UC Merced CalTeach/Science and Mathematics Initiative (SMI) has attracted 563 undergraduate students and have been highly rated by both UC Merced participants and the local school district partners.  The program is focused on offering undergraduates opportunities to explore careers in secondary STEM education as well as improve their own learning strategies, problem solving and presentation skills.  The program works closely with local school districts and enables UC Merced undergraduates not only to experience teaching in K-12 classrooms during their fieldwork but also enables them to complete both their Bachelor’s degrees and teaching credential simultaneously.  CalTeach is a UC-wide initiative which partner programs across 9 campuses which has an extensive research component.  A Center for the Study of Education could draw on already existing resources within the CalTeach initiative as well as help broaden the research component of the UC Merced SMI program across a complete spectrum of STEM education levels. 

The Center would also facilitate further collaboration and engagement between UC Merced and the Merced public schools.  The proposed Center could facilitate grant application partnerships between UC Merced faculty and school district employees, thereby providing the research and grant writing expertise of the university to local school districts, who are eligible for various educational grants but lack the resources to pursue them.  The Center could manage and facilitate UC Merced student internships with local schools, either in the classroom or as data management and analysis assistants. It could also serve as a hub for student volunteer efforts in local schools, such as the highly successful Project 10%, and integrate research and training components into such endeavors.  In addition, one of us (Gilger) has been in the initial planning process for a community engagement, resource and research facility aimed specifically at children and families dealing with learning and developmental disorders in the schools. This facility would fit nicely with an education center and also link this center with other health related units planned for the university (e.g., HSRI, a possible med school or school of public health).

A Center for the Study of Education would be a valuable resource to the Central Valley, which has the worst educational outcomes in the state of California. This is reflected across multiple measures, including high school completion, college enrollment, and bachelor’s degree attainment. Furthermore, Latinos—a group that is heavily represented in both California, and the Central Valley in particular—have the lowest levels of educational attainment in the country. For example, around 40% of all Latino parents have less than a high school degree. Schools in the Central Valley are not well equipped to serve these populations, as they are among the most poorly resourced in the state. Students from low income communities and families, with little access to educational capital, face serious barriers in educational persistence. UC Merced serves the Central Valley, and a significant population of first-generation, largely minority students. Of all the campuses in the system, ours is most critically positioned to address education, especially educational inequities.

An interdisciplinary education center has the potential to bring in a substantial amount of grant money. Grants to study education are available from both federal agencies (e.g. Institute for Education Sciences) and foundations such as the Spencer Foundation, the Gates Foundation and more.  These agencies are especially interested in educational issues like those faced by the Central Valley. A Center like this could facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations between faculty, and provide support for faculty in grant applications.  Additional hires in education, including a Center Director, would also provide assistance to the University in pursuing grants, such as the NSF ADVANCE grant, which was considered this fall but abandoned due to a lack of senior faculty interested in education available to work on it.  Further, as mentioned above, the Center could help develop grant writing partnerships between UCM faculty and local school district administrators.

The Center will require a laboratory space/office.  Ideally, the Center would begin with a part time staff person who could help organize events and workshops as well as assist faculty with grant preparation.  Eventually a Center like this would easily fund itself with grant money.  We propose that a faculty line be established in order to hire a Center Director.  An interdisciplinary search could be conducted, involving faculty from sociology, psychology, and other affiliated disciplines.  Seed money would be helpful to help the center apply for external funding in order to remain functional and become self-sustaining in the future.